KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday directed the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to file the final report in the bar bribery case involving former Finance Minister K M Mani before the Special Court within 45 days.The directive came on a petition filed by Mani challenging the Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Court’s order allowing a plea for further probe in the case. When the petition came up for hearing, the VACB sought more time to complete the probe. It said needed 30 days to complete the probe and 15 days for analysing the material collected throughout the probe. The VACB also produced the probe report before the court in a sealed cover.
The High Court had granted a month’s time to complete the probe on December 17 last year. Counsel for Mani opposed the VACB plea and submitted the case has been pending for the past three years. Mani contended, in his petition, the VACB could not conduct further investigation in a case in which it had filed the final report saying no offence had been made out.
The Vigilance Court had passed the order on a petition filed by SP R Sukesan alleging that former VACB director N Sankar Reddy had intervened in the probe in an attempt to give Mani a clean chit.According to Mani, the plea for further investigation had been allowed without looking into whether any fresh materials against the petitioner had emerged or not. In fact, the petition seeking further investigation was filed with the mala fide intention to harass him.