THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The vigilance and anti-corruption bureau (VACB) refused to conduct a probe into a petition seeking a probe against chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan in connection with sand mining at Thottappally in Alappuzha and passed the buck to the home department. VACB cited that the matters raised in the complaint were disposed of or are under courts’ consideration.
VACB director’s communication to additional chief secretary (home and vigilance) in Jan this year (accessed by TOI), said that the agency has no action to take; instead, govt should instruct the agency if it has to take any action in the matter. “As there are no new issues in the petitions submitted, and as the matter has been disposed of by the high court or is under consideration before the court, there is no action to be taken presently. It is therefore recommended that govt and the concerned department may please examine the petition, and take further action, if required. If any matter to be addressed by VACB is revealed, the same may be communicated to VACB for further action in the matter, with the required sanction,” said the three-page communication. However, a perusal of the communique shows that while the petition before the high court was challenging the mining activity, the complaint filed before VACB was to investigate the corruption involved in the mining.
The CM is in charge of the home and vigilance department, and now with VACB director’s latest letter, CM himself has to decide whether an inquiry should be permitted against him.
The matter pertains to the sand mining from ecologically-sensitive coastal regulation zone at Thottappally, wherein Karimanal Khanana Viruddha Ekopani Samithi submitted a petition to VACB. The petitioner organization had accused the CM and water resources officials in the petition. But VACB reasoned that the same petitioner had in Aug 2021 filed a petition before the high court regarding mining operations at Puthukkadu village in Alappuzha. The court had dismissed the petitions observing that during disasters, the Disaster Management Act, 2005, would prevail over provisions of other laws because the DM Act is intended to protect citizens’ lives. The petitioner then appealed before the division bench which dismissed the appeal, after which the petitioner has now approached the Supreme Court.
“The stand that VACB would not conduct any inquiry into matters, related to which a writ petition was filed in the high court, effectively opens up a green channel to safely carry out corruption. Writ jurisdiction of the high court is not invoked based on merit of the alleged corruption charges and does not adduce or consider any evidence. The high court is not an investigative agency but the VACB is. It cannot refuse to investigate,” said a senior IPS officer, on conditions of anonymity.
