Thiruvananthapuram: Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) has found no evidence against chief minister V D Satheesan in connection with alleged fund misappropriation in the Punarjani housing project and recommended that the case be closed, home and vigilance minister Ramesh Chennithala said on Thursday.Announcing the state govt’s decision, Chennithala said the vigilance probe found that funds for the project were received through the bank account of Manappatt Foundation, an Ernakulam-based organisation. However, investigators found no evidence that Satheesan had any role in receiving, routing or handling the money.According to the vigilance director’s report, no material was found to indicate that the chief minister had committed an offence under Section 7A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The report, therefore, recommended that no further action be taken, Chennithala said.He also alleged that the previous govt’s decision to hand over the case to CBI was politically motivated. “The investigation has clearly established that Satheesan did not directly handle even a single rupee connected with the project,” he said.Rejecting criticism that the govt had given the chief minister a clean chit after the change in power, Chennithala said the decision was based solely on the vigilance director’s recommendation following a detailed examination of the case files.The investigation was launched following complaints that funds had been mobilised from abroad for the Punarjani housing project, an initiative launched by Satheesan in his Paravur assembly constituency to provide houses for families who lost their homes and livelihoods in the 2018 floods. The probe also examined whether the fundraising violated the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and other applicable laws.According to the state govt, the project has built and handed over 280 houses to flood-affected families in Paravur, including 37 sponsored by non-resident Keralites.The case centred on the collection and routing of overseas contributions for the project. However, the vigilance probe found no evidence linking Satheesan to any financial irregularity or corruption, leading to its recommendation that the proceedings be closed.
