Kochi: In a major setback to two former officials of the Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation (KSCDC), the Kerala government has decided to allow the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to prosecute them in a 2015 corruption case. The state government informed the Kerala High Court of its decision on Thursday.
INTUC Kerala president and former KSCDC chairperson R Chandrasekharan and former managing director K A Ratheesh have been booked in connection with the alleged misappropriation of around ₹600 crore in the import of raw cashew between 2006 and 2015.
Justice A Badharudeen recorded the submission made by Advocate General Jaju Babu that a sanction for prosecution would be granted to the CBI and directed the state government to produce the sanction order on the next date of hearing, July 8.
The court was hearing a contempt petition filed by Kollam resident Kadakampally Manoj, who alleged non-compliance with the court's earlier directions regarding the grant of prosecution sanction to the CBI against the former KSCDC officials in the graft case.
The case
Before the CBI probe, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) had registered a case alleging corruption by KSCDC officials.
The VACB named former KSCDC chairperson R Chandrasekharan and former managing director K A Ratheesh as the first and second accused, respectively.
Jaimon Joseph, owner of the controversial cashew trading firm JMJ Traders, was named as the third accused, while Bhuvanachandran Nair, the Kollam branch manager of a cashew quality-testing agency, was named as the fourth accused.
The case relates to the purchase of 2,000 tonnes of raw cashew from Guinea-Bissau using ₹30 crore allocated by the state government in 2015. According to the investigation, the KSCDC subsequently entered into an agreement with JMJ Traders, the sole bidder in the e-tender, in August 2015. The KSCDC board of directors, at its meeting on August 14, 2015, approved the purchase of 2,000 tonnes of low-quality raw cashew with an outturn of 53 pounds and a count of 220 at ₹117.01 per kg, for a total value of ₹23.40 crore.
The CBI took over the investigation into the alleged irregularities following directions from the Kerala High Court.
After completing its investigation, the agency sought the state government's sanction to prosecute the accused, including former KSCDC chairperson R Chandrasekharan.
Subsequently, Manoj approached the High Court seeking implementation of its earlier directions to grant prosecution sanction to the CBI. Following repeated delays in granting the sanction, the single-judge bench initiated contempt proceedings and directed the Principal Secretary of the Industries Department to appear in person.
