THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Lok Ayukta full bench initiated its hearing on Monday regarding the alleged misuse of the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF), a case in which CM Pinarayi Vijayan is a respondent. During the case’s consideration, Lok Ayukta Cyriac Joseph stated that the new bench needed to revisit the case from the beginning to assess its maintainability, as the verdict issued by the bench led by former Lok Ayukta Pius C Kuriakose did not hold binding authority over the full-bench.
The full-bench determined that the bench headed by Pius had merely offered an observation and not a legally binding decision.
However, the petitioner’s counsel objected, arguing that the Pius-led bench had indeed ordered an investigation into the complaint and had directed notices to be sent to all respondents, including the ministers and CM, after thorough scrutiny.
Upa Lok Ayukta Babu Mathew P Joseph highlighted that the allocation from CMDRF was a collective cabinet decision. Since cabinet decisions do not fall under the Lok Ayukta’s purview, the admissibility of the petition was in question. Another Upa Lok Ayukta, Harun Ul Rasheed, pointed out that, as the respondents apart from the CM are not ministers, the case could be outdated.
The counsel of the petitioner replied that since ministers fall under the definition of public servants, the decision of the cabinet can be examined by the Lok Ayukta.
Regarding the observation about the relevance of the complaint, he retorted that the petition was filed in 2019 and it was the Lok Ayukta that delayed the proceedings.
When the Upa Lok Ayuktas posed numerous questions, the petitioner’s counsel deemed them irrelevant and conveyed that he would respond solely to the Lok Ayukta’s queries. He was later reassured by the Lok Ayukta.