THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Raising serious criticism against High Court judges - Justice P Ubaid and Justice Abraham Mathew - former Vigilance Director Jacob Thomas has approached the Central Vigilance Commissioner and the Chief Justice of India seeking investigation into an alleged plot to harass and victimise him.
Alleging the involvement of the judiciary in defaming him, the suspended IPS officer said the perpetrators of corruption had even taken the judiciary for a ride in a series of graft cases supervised by him. The communication comes close on the heels of the government ordering a probe against him.
In the communication sent through the state Chief Secretary on February 26, Thomas alleged he was being harassed while the accused in various cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act were being protected.
Jacob Thomas came down heavily on repeated criticisms made by the judiciary against him in various cases, including the Pattoor case. The communication assumes significance as the state government has ordered a probe against him for the remarks he allegedly made against the government. Thomas is currently under suspension for allegedly making remarks against the government pertaining to the funds utilised in rehabilitating the victims in the post-Ockhi cyclone catastrophe.
Jacob Thomas also alleged the involvement of the judiciary in defaming him. He said the perpetrators of corruption had taken the judiciary for a ride in a series of corruption cases reported or supervised by him. “A series of judgements that came from Justice P Ubaid and Justice Abraham Mathew of the High Court against me were widely publicised in the media,” said the communication.
Thomas said the judges had made observations against him in the E P Jayarajan case, about Vigilance Raj in Kerala, Pattoor case, Anoop Jacob case, Battery case of K M Mani and Kannur youth festival case.
He termed the judgments demoralising and constraining the officers diligently investigating complex corruption cases involving highly influential persons in the state. There is also mention about Lokayukta Pius Kuriakose.
The 1985 IPS officer said in the communication that there had been concerted action to harass and silence him for his actions taken against maladministration and corruption. Thomas said investigations led by him were either stopped or nullified by vested interests through “highly collusive and dangerous conspiracy”. He further added that the various sacred pillars of democracy had taken their respective part in the conspiracy which was highly alarming and needed to be probed into.
Thomas also mentioned his previous appointment as Port Director and the immediate ouster following actions taken against the sand mining lobby. He also raised apprehension on the deadlock of various anti-corruption initiatives launched during his tenure. In an end note, the former Vigilance Director requested the Central Vigilance Commission to re-investigate the cases investigated by the Vigilance during the period of 2017-18.
Jacob Thomas was suspended for six months in December 2017 as per the Chief Minister’s instruction for raising criticism against the government. The action against him was taken saying the statements made by him tarnished the image of the government and that it was unbecoming of an IPS officer. “It was not an attempt to target any specific individual. A couple of cases were mentioned to show how a conspiracy was hatched against me. The name of judges and cases were mentioned only as a reference,” Jacob Thomas told ‘Express’.