THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: K P Satheesan, Vigilance special prosecutor in the bar bribery case involving K M Mani, was removed from his post on Thursday, hours after the Vigilance Court here witnessed an argument between him and Vigilance legal adviser C C Augustine over who should represent the anti-graft body in court.
Though Law and Home Department officials didn’t confirm the news of the removal, the Chief Minister’s office confirmed the prosecutor was removed as he was appointed on a temporary basis.“His appointment was a temporary one and by conventions and rules, he could only appear during the trial stage of the case as was shown in his appointment letter,” sources in the CMO said.
Satheesan, meanwhile, responded he got no official communication regarding his expulsion till Thursday evening. “I went to the court not for or against the report. My personal conviction is something else. I wanted to present the facts before the court and it’s up to the judiciary to accept the Vigilance report or not,” he said.
Satheesan maintained that being a special prosecutor, he had all the freedom to appear in every phase of the case and not just in the trial stage. He had earlier taken a tough stand against the Vigilance reports that gave a clean chit to Mani in connection with accepting bribes for restoring cancelled two-star bar licences.