Chandy given clean chit in palmolein case

The vigilance and anti-corruption bureau of the Kerala Police has informed Vigilance Court, Thrissur, that they could not find evidence to implicate Kerala Chief Minister Oomnen Chandy in the controversial palmolein import case.

According to a report submitted by superintendent of police V N Sasidharan to the court on Saturday, 12 people had been recently questioned in connection with the case after the Thiruvananthapuram vigilance court observed that the role of Chandy in the case should be investigated. But no evidence against Chandy could be collected.

The palmolein case followed the decision of United Democratic Front (UDF) government headed by K Karunakaran in 1991-92 to import Palmolein. It had been accused by the opposition Left Democratic Front that a company was empowered to import palmolein without adhering to regulations and at an inflated price and service charge. Following the accusations, a vigilance case had been filed against Karunakaran and seven others in 1997 by the LDF government which came to power. The case has been dragging endlessly from then on.

Chandy, who was the finance minister in the then UDF government, was not an accused in the case. His name was raised in the court in a discharge petition filed by another accused and the then food and civil supplies minister T H Mustafa. Mustafa had pleaded that justice granted to Chandy should be given to him also, following which investigation against Chandy was ordered.