THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Lok Ayukta division bench on Wednesday dismissed the review petition challenging its own decision to constitute a full bench to judge the case pertaining to the alleged misuse of Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF).
The division bench comprising Lok Ayukta Cyriac Joseph and Upa Lok Ayukta Harun-ul-Rashid reckoned that its decision to transfer the case to a full bench was in accordance with the Lok Ayukta rules and ruled that the review petition was not legally maintainable.
Countering the allegation that there was an undue delay of one year in delivering the verdict, the division bench said they were studying the case meticulously during that period. The bench said even the High Courts and the Supreme Court have delivered judgments after a year or two and there was nothing unusual about it.
The bench clarified that there was a difference of opinion among the judges and hence the case was transferred to the full bench. The bench asked why the petitioner could not cooperate with this and made it clear that it cannot recant its own decision.
The crux of the review petition was that a full bench in 2019 had decided that the case can be probed by the Lok Ayukta and hence shifting the case again to a full bench to check whether the Lok Ayukta can conduct an enquiry is legally wrong.
The petitioner R S Sasikumar flayed the verdict and said it was on the expected lines. "The verdict is scripted. I will move the High Court challenging the verdict. If required, will knock on the doors of the Supreme Court. This is a cent per cent wrong decision," he said.
The case has got huge political ramifications on account of CM Pinarayi Vijayan being one of the respondents.
Sasikumar had filed the review petition saying that it was a Lok Ayukta full bench headed by Pius Kuriakose in 2019 that decided in favour of conducting a probe into the matter. Though the division bench had consented to hear the case before convening the full bench to take up the CMDRF case, the judges had in store searing remarks against the petitioner. The judges had criticised the petitioner for
his comments questioning their integrity and asked why he approached them in the first place if he did not have faith in them. Sasikumar had alleged that the judges were being influenced after the division bench reserved its verdict in the case for about one year. He had also criticised the judges attending the Iftar party organised by the CM recently.
The decision to constitute a three-member bench to judge the case was announced on March 31 after Lok Ayukta Cyriac Joseph and Upa Lok Ayukta Harun-ul-Rashid developed a 'difference of opinion' regarding the merits of the allegations raised and whether the particular decision of the members of the cabinet can be investigated under the Kerala Lok Ayukta Act.
Apart from Cyriac and Harun, the new bench will also have Upa Lok Ayukta Babu Mathew P Joseph on board. The full bench will hear the case on Wednesday afternoon.
The complaint filed by Sasikumar alleged that the decision to provide financial assistance to the families of the late leaders, NCP's Uzhavoor Vijayan and former Chengannur MLA K K Ramachandran Nair, and policeman P Praveen, who died in a road accident while escorting former CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, smacked of favouritism. He had also alleged that the matter of providing assistance was not included in the agenda of the cabinet meeting and demanded action against the CM and the ministers concerned.
The hearing in the case was held from February 5, 2022, to March 18, 2022. However, the verdict was delayed for almost a year following which the petitioner approached the High Court, which directed him to approach the Lok Ayukta instead. The LDF government, meanwhile, had brought in an ordinance tweaking the powers of the Lok Ayukta to remove a public servant from office. However, the ordinance is yet to get the assent of Governor Arif Mohammad Khan.