
KOCHI: Kerala High Court on Wednesday directed the State Police Chief to constitute a competent team of officers to ensure that an investigation into the complaint of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation on the installation of the board in front of the Secretariat is conducted and completed swiftly.
The probe shall reveal the names and identities of the persons who are responsible; as well as that of the printer/advertisement agency responsible for putting it up, held Justice Devan Ramachandran.
The court also directed the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation to file a report indicating the amount of fine imposed/collected; the expenses incurred and the strain taken for disposal of the huge board.
The court took the stern decision after considering the submission of Amicus Curiae that a huge board was installed in front of the State Secretariat, apparently under the aegis of the Kerala Secretariat Employees Association (KSEA).
He further reported that the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation removed it immediately, presumably because the illegal action was widely reported in the media.
The court said there are larger issues involved in this matter.
If the illegal board had been installed by an association of government employees, then certainly, it is in breach of Government Orders, and judicial directives; and the persons concerned would have to face disciplinary action, apart from penal provisions being attracted.
Case registered against employees association
The Cantonment police have registered a case against the Secretariat Employees Association for installing a flex board outside the Secretariat premises. The board was placed in an area that has been demarcated as a plastic-free zone.
It was placed in connection with the inauguration of the association building and it had a cutout of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The High Court had banned erecting flex board in public places.
The corporation officials directed the association to take the flex board down. However, they did not pay heed and following which the corporation officials pulled it down.