KOCHI: Both Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and PWD Minister G Sudhakaran have been loudmouthed on booking culprits involved in the Palarivattom flyover fiasco. But developments on the ground reveal the probe into the case has not moved an inch nearly a week after registering a case against 17 persons that included top officers of Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala Ltd (RBDCK) and KITCO.
The probe has been hit with the Vigilance Department sitting on the inquiry report that exposed the alleged nexus of KITCO and RBDCK officers with the contractor RDS Pvt Ltd in siphoning-off public money by constructing the flyover of inferior quality.
Officials said though the FIR has been registered under Section 13 (1) (d), read with Section 13 (2), of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 and Section 120 B (d) of the IPC, there is still a confusion within the department on whether certain section of charges will hold ground after the Centre amended the Act in 2018.
There is also confusion within the Vigilance Department as who all should be included in the special team to be formed under Vigilance DySP Ashok Kumar R for probing the case for filing a chargesheet against the 17 accused.
“The government should assign a top-level officer for monitoring the progress of the probe. The special team should be directed to complete the probe within a specified time limit,” said a senior officer. However, Ashok said they have launched a probe into the case.
RTI activist D B Binu said the amendment has diluted the powers of the PC Act which may not serve its real purpose in booking government officials for corruption and abusing their official powers.