In a major reprieve for Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday upheld the order of Thrissur Vigilance Court giving clean chit to Chandy who was the Finance Minister in the K Karunakaran Cabinet during 1991-92 when the Palmolein case rocked the state.
“The investigating agency had conducted further investigation to ascertain whether Chandy, the then Finance Minister, had any role in corruption along with the other accused and finally concluded, ‘not once by twice, there is no material to hold him culpable for any offence,” the court observed.
Justice S S Sathesachandran passed the order while dismissing the petitions filed by Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan and BJP leader Alphons Kannanthanam against the Vigilance Court’s order accepting the investigation report in the Palmolein case which has excluded Chandy. The case related to the import of 15,000 tonnes of palmolein from Malaysia, which allegedly caused a loss of Rs 2.32 crore to the exchequer. Chandy was 23rd witness in the case.
The petitioners submitted that a proper and fair investigation was not conducted by the agency on the role played by Chandy.
The import of large quantity of palmolien overlooking the rules could not have been proceeded without the approval of the Finance Minister. He was the final authority to decide the financial propriety of the proposal, they added.
The court found that the Finance Minister cannot be made part of an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act merely because he put his signature on a document.