Keralam home minister Ramesh Chennithala on Sunday ordered a Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) inquiry against chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in a 2006 case of alleged irregularities in a road construction project when the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer was then secretary of the state public works department.
Chennithala said the probe was ordered based on a complaint filed by Malayankeezhu Venugopal, a Congress leader and member of the state unit executive.
The investigation will be a continuation of a preliminary VACB inquiry which was conducted in 2006 against Kumar and which fizzled out after the IAS officer left the state on a central deputation to Delhi that year.
The home minister said the decision to order the inquiry was taken following legal counsel and consultations with chief minister VD Satheesan.
The inquiry will probe corruption and bribery allegations in connection with the upgradation of MC Road under the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) by the PATI-BEL consortium. Kumar was then the Public Works Department (PWD) secretary who oversaw the project.
The allegations arose at the time following the death by suicide of Malaysian civil engineer Lee See Been, who was associated with the project, in Kuala Lumpur, said the minister.
“Two suicide notes were written by Been, one to his superior at work and one to his wife. Gyanesh Kumar was named in one of the suicide notes,” said Chennithala.
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Venugopal alleged that there were repeated delays to the road modernisation project which had propelled PATI-BEL to write complaints to then State government.
“Been, who was the project manager then, had come to the State several times to meet top PWD officials urging them to clear his bills on time. He was under tremendous pressure from the sub-contractors. The treatment meted out to him by then PWD officials was extremely bad and he died by suicide in Kuala Lumpur. Kumar was among the PWD officials who were named in the suicide note,” said Venugopal.
The home minister said a preliminary probe was ordered under then Left Democratic Front (LDF) government of VS Achuthanandan in 2006 and saw Kumar being shunted off the PWD department.
“Shortly after, he earned a deputation to Delhi and left Keralam. He never came back to the state and the probe fizzled out,” said Chennithala.
TM Thomas Isaac, CPI(M) leader and finance minister during the 2006-11 LDF Government, welcomed the vigilance probe and said the country needed to know what happened in 2006.
“The case files of the 2006 vigilance probe should be with the department. They must be examined. As far as I know, PATI-BEL did not want to continue with the project at the time and was fearful of the company’s name being maligned by a corruption probe. But today, the circumstances are different and people can come forward with any evidence they have,” the former minister said.
The inquiry against Kumar comes as he faces growing allegations of taking unilateral decisions within the Election Commission. Opposition parties and outfits, including political pressure group Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) staged protests demanding his resignation from the post.
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