The Supreme Court on Monday, while hearing a plea filed by controversial businessman T G Nandakumar against the investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the controversial Data centre case, flayed the state government and said the affidavit filed by it is not satisfactory.
A Bench comprising Justices H L Dattu and A Y Iqbal wanted to know why the Attorney General had failed to be present before the court. The court posted the case for hearing on October 21.
The Kerala Government had submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court seeking a CBI probe into the Data centre transfer case. An affidavit had been filed in the court, dismissing Attorney General Ghulam E Vahanvati’s advice not to proceed with the CBI investigation.
Hence the Attorney General did not appear for the government in the court. Instead, senior Advocate V Giri appeared for the government in the court.
Earlier, when the case came up for hearing, the Attorney General had told the court that the government stand was not to go for an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investiagtion. During the last hearing, the Attorney General had told the court that he had informed Chief Minister Oommen Chandy about not proceeding forth with the case.
Justice H L Dattu had directed to submit this in writing on Monday. But the volte face by the government on the matter incurred the displeasure of the court. Meanwhile, in a veiled attack on Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Government Chief Whip P C George said that the remarks of the Apex Court highlight the inefficiency of the state’s Home Department. “The department’s stand has made the issue more complex. I hope the Supreme Court would understand that the state has corrected its stand on the issue,” the Chief Whip told ‘Express’.
The case is of political interest as it was alleged that Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan, was, during his stint as the state Chief Minister, guided by external interests in the Rs 5.9-crore deal for the Data centre transfer, a crucial storehouse of highly- confidential information about the state administration and its functioning, to private business interests.