KOCHI: The police on Wednesday slapped cheating and corruption charges on lawyer Saiby Jose Kidangoor in the cash-for-verdict scam. An FIR has been registered and a special team constituted to investigate the allegations that Saiby had collected money from clients on the pretext of bribing High Court judges to get favourable verdicts.
The FIR was registered at the Ernakulam Central police station after a preliminary inquiry by the police found certain evidence linking Saiby to the charges, a statement from the state police headquarters said. The initial probe was held after the High Court registrar sent a letter to the state police chief seeking a probe into the allegations.
The police have booked him under Section 7(1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code. “The special investigation team will collect the statements from the lawyer and those who have raised allegations against him,” said a senior police officer.
Earlier, the High Court vigilance unit had found several instances of Saiby collecting huge sums of money from clients by taking the names of Justice P V Kunhikrishnan, Justice A Muhamed Mustaque and Justice Ziyad Rahman A A.
Shaik Darvesh Saheb to lead the investigation team
“Prima facie, there is sufficient material to prove the allegations against lawyer Saiby Jose Kidangoor,” the vigilance said in its report submitted to the High Court. After the incident came to light, Justice Ziyad Rahman recalled his earlier ruling in a bail plea in which the petitioner was represented by Saiby. Constituted by State Police Chief Anil Kant, the special team will be led by crime branch ADGP Shaik Darvesh Saheb.