KOCHI: With former Minister VK Ebrahim Kunju made an accused in the Palarivattom flyover case on Monday, he is the 12th minister in the previous UDF government to be charged with graft by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB). Kunju on Tuesday responded that he is ready to face the probe by VACB.
The ministers in the UDF government who faced a Vigilance probe are former Excise Minister K Babu, former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, former Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash, former Industries Minister P K Kunhalikutty, former Water Resource Minister K J Joseph, former Civil Supplies Minister Anoop Jacob, former Agriculture Minister K P Mohanan, former Health Minister V S Sivakumar, former Co-operation Minister late C N Balakrishnan and former Finance Minister late K M Mani.
Interestingly, the VACB could file a charge sheet only in one case till now. It was filed in the case registered against K Babu. Three cases are still in the probe stage.
Three cases were quashed by Kerala High Court. In two cases, Vigilance closed the probe in the absence of enough evidence. Two cases were registered against Babu for possessing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income and corruption in allotting bar licences. The charge sheet was filed in the disproportionate assets case and investigation in the bar licence case is still on. The Vigilance probe against Chandy was launched in the Pattoor apartment construction corruption case which was dropped following a directive by Kerala High Court in 2018. The case against Prakash and Kunhalikutty was registered for irregularities in allotting 127 acres for IT Parks in Ernakulam and Thrissur districts. The investigation is still on. Two cases were registered against Joseph in which he was acquitted later. One of the cases was related to the land grab incident at Nadukani in Idukki district and irregularities in sanctioning a water connection.
Jacob was made an accused in the case related to an irregularity in a ration shop in Idukki. The case was quashed by Kerala High Court. Mohanan was made an accused in the case related to the illegal appointment of 12 field assistants at Kerala Feeds Ltd. The FIR was quashed by Kerala High Court in 2018.
This year, a disproportionate assets case was registered against Sivakumar. Vigilance cases against Mani and Balakrishnan were closed following their demise. “I am ready to face any probe. I don’t fear the arrest. I have revealed all the details regarding Palarivattom flyover construction when the investigators summoned me thrice,” said Kunju.