Kerala High Court orders CBI probe against CM's former Chief Principal Secretary for disproportionate assets

Kochi: The High Court here on Friday ordered the CBI to register an FIR and launch a probe against the former Chief Principal Secretary of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on a complaint accusing the retired bureaucrat of amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Justice K Babu ordered the probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against K M Abraham, a retired IAS officer, who was formerly the Additional Chief Secretary (Finance), on a plea by the complainant -- Kottayam-based activist Jomon Puthenpurackal.

The High Court said that on a careful analysis of the preliminary enquiry report, the other materials placed before the it and the defence set up by Abraham during enquiry, "prima facie, it is established that respondent No.3 (Abraham) had movable and immovable properties disproportionate to his known sources of income".

It also noted that the probe by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) in the matter "will not instil confidence in the public" and that the credibility of the enquiry done by it was "doubtful".

It observed by pointing out that while conducting the preliminary enquiry, the VACB "deliberately excluded the acquisition of property having substantial value by respondent No.3 (Abraham) with the intent to protect him".

"Strangely enough, the enquiry report was scrutinised and verified by the Director of the VACB. There was a deliberate attempt to save respondent No.3 on the part of the State Vigilance," the High Court said in its 74-page order.

It further said that for a fair, honest and complete investigation to retain public confidence in the impartial working of the state agencies, the investigation in the present case has to be done by the CBI.

While ordering the CBI probe, the High Court also set aside the 2017 order of the Enquiry Commissioner-cum-Special Judge, Thiruvananthapuram, who had rejected the petitioner's complaint against Abraham.

The High Court said that the Special Judge's order was "perverse and wholly unreasonable".

It said that the Special Judge "in a casual and perfunctory manner, blindly accepted the quick verification report" submitted by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) and came to the conclusion that no cognizable offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act had been revealed and rejected the complaint at the threshold.

The High Court said that the Special Judge ought to have appreciated the petitioner's contentions with regard to the various properties, worth crores, acquired by Abraham that were excluded from consideration by the VACB enquiry officer.

"The approach adopted by the Special Judge is not acceptable," it added.

The High Court also said that non-consideration of the relevant materials and "palpable misreading" of records was apparent on the face of the order under challenge.

"The finding of the Special Judge is untenable in law, grossly erroneous and based on no material. Therefore, the impugned order is liable to be set aside," it said.

The High Court also criticised the legal advisor of the VACB who had verified the quick verification report and had submitted that the enquiry officer conducted the probe systematically.

The legal advisor had also concluded that Abraham had not amassed any wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income during the check period.

The High Court said the legal advisor/public prosecutor has not been appointed to "blindly support" what the police or the vigilance submits before the court.

"The statutory responsibility of a legal advisor is to uphold the law. He is independent of the Executive. He is not subject to the orders of the higher officials of the executive. He is not the servant of anyone. His statutory responsibility is to bring the truth before the court.

"In the present case, I must say that the legal advisor has miserably failed in his responsibility," Justice Babu said.

The petitioner had alleged that Abraham, while in service, had acquired an apartment worth Rs three crore in Mumbai, another apartment worth Rs one crore at Thycaud in Thiruvananthapuram and constructed a three-storey shopping complex at Kadappakkada in Kollam district, the value of which would come to Rs eight crore.

The allegations were denied by Abraham.