Malabar Cements case: Vigilance Court quashes govt order removing three from list of accused

THRISSUR: The Thrissur Vigilance Court on Thursday quashed the government order removing three persons from the list of accused in the Malabar Cements corruption case. The court asked all three accused to undergo trial in the case along with 20 others. In 2011, the UDF government had issued an order releasing former chief secretary John Mathai, and former Malabar Cements managing directors N Krishnakumar and T Padmanabhan from all charges of corruption in the three cases relating to the firm. The cases, registered in 2010 and 2011, alleged that deals made by Malabar Cements had caused a loss of Rs 42 crore to the government. When the allegations were raised, a witness in the case -- Saseendran -- was found dead under mysterious circumstances.

Citing the developments in the case, human rights activist Joy Kaitharath pleaded the Vigilance Court to make him a party to the case, which the court granted.

 He also pointed out the Idamalayar case in which the Supreme Court heard V S Achuthanandan’s statement and found R Balakrishna Pillai guilty despite a High Court verdict acquitting the latter of all charges. In the Idamalayar case, the Supreme Court had observed that Achuthanandan could be heard for the benefit of public interest.

“This is a huge achievement regarding this case, which I have been fighting for the past 11 years,” said Joy. Since 2011, the trial of the cases relating to the Malabar Cements corruption case were delayed because of the order issued by the then government. Given the fresh court orders, the trial is set to resume.