Vigilance Court Orders Probe against Anoop Jacob

In yet another incident, the Vigilance court here, on Saturday ordered a vigilance inquiry against Minister for Food and Civil Supplies and Registration Anoop Jacob in a case related to transferring Thrissur District Registrar M G Venugopal
Vigilance Court Orders Probe against Anoop Jacob

In yet another incident, the Vigilance court here, on Saturday ordered a vigilance inquiry against Minister for Food and Civil Supplies and Registration Anoop Jacob in a case related to transferring Thrissur District Registrar M G Venugopal, who cracked whip against chitty firms that violated the rules, to Kollam.  With this, the number of investigations being faced by the young UDF minister has risen to four.

In the latest case, while considering a petition filed by social activist P D Joseph, vigilance court judge and inquiry commissioner K Haripal, ordered the Vigilance

and Anti-Corruption Bureau to probe the charges levelled against the minister, Ramakrishnan, the minister’s private secretary, Kerala Congress(Jacob) district president Girijan and others in the case and submit its report before March 20, 2014.  Joseph said in his petition that the minister had transferred the District Registrar to Kollam, succumbing to pressure from his party-men and the UDF, in order to protect the unauthorised chitty firms.

The District Registrar had earlier sought permission to prosecute some of the owners of the chitty firms who started Kuries, worth crore of rupees flouting the Central Chitty Act.

The Registration Department officials had also found that the chitty companies had started chitties worth crores of rupees without adhering to the mandatory norms of the department and the permission of the District Registrar. Besides, they had also not given mandatory bank guarantee and swindled the government lakhs of rupees without paying registration fee and stamp duty, he said in his petition. 

The minister and seven others are also facing trail in an alleged corruption case related to the Registration Department on a petition filed by Ration Dealers Association national secretary Babychan Mukkadan. The Vigilance Court had also ordered an investigation against Anoop Jacob, Kerala Congress(Jacob) working chairman Johnny Nellore and four others in an alleged corruption case in the Civil Supplies Department in January.

The same court had also ordered another inquiry against the minister and 10 others in another alleged corruption case related to the Registration Department on February 2 on a petition filed by Mukkadan. 

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