KOCHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday submitted before the Kerala High Court that the state government had not properly appreciated the evidence forwarded by it and ignored the gravity of the offence while declining sanction to prosecute INTUC state president R Chandrasekharan and former managing director of Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation K A Ratheesh in the Rs 600-crore scam in procuring inferior-quality raw cashew nuts from abroad.
The CBI report along with statements of witnesses and copies of documents was forwarded to the chief secretary for granting prosecution, but the government denied sanction. It was clear that the government misinterpreted some of the findings of the CBI on technical grounds.
According to the CBI, the order was passed without application of mind to the facts submitted before the sanctioning authority and it was passed to avoid the filing of a final report by the CBI against the accused persons.
The constitution bench of the Supreme Court had held that the provision under Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act does not apply to persons who are not a public servant as on the date of taking cognisance. The Supreme Court had also held that no sanction under Section 19 of the Act is necessary if the accused public servant is employed in a different office at the time of cognisance.