The Kerala government on Wednesday joined a slew of non-BJP states in withdrawing general consent to the CBI to register cases in the state.
The Kerala cabinet’s decision came at a time when central investigating agencies, including the CBI, have been accused by the Left Democratic Front government of being partisan in their investigation of several cases.
Henceforth, the CBI will require the prior consent of the state government or a court order to register a case in Kerala. However, the government has made it clear that the withdrawal of general consent would not affect the ongoing cases, including the highly contentious payoffs scandal dogging a housing project funded by Emirates Red Crescent, a UAE-based charity.
Earlier, Andhra Pradesh, Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra had withdrawn general consent to the CBI.
The Kerala government had last month dragged the CBI to court over the central agency’s probe into the suspected payoffs scandal related to the Life Mission housing project funded by Emirates Red Crescent.
The consulate-general of the UAE in Thiruvananthapuram had on behalf of Emirates Red Crescent contracted a Kochi-based builder to construct an apartment complex in Wadakkanchery, Thrissur, for over 100 families who lost their homes in the 2018 floods.
But following a gold smuggling bust at Thiruvananthapuram airport on July 5, key accused Swapna Suresh — who had earlier worked as a secretary of the UAE consul-general — allegedly confessed to accepting kickbacks to the tune of Rs 4.25 crore from the builder. The top brass in the consulate had allegedly split the amount.
The CBI booked a case based on a complaint by Wadakkanchery MLA Anil Akkara of the Congress who alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.
The state government eventually got an interim stay from Kerala High Court, which stopped the CBI probe for two months until December 12 based on the argument that the state had only sanctioned some land for the construction and not received any money from the UAE charity, which had directly paid the contractor.
The Left parties had also questioned the eagerness of the CBI to probe the Life Mission case while ignoring a graft case involving senior Congress leaders.
The Kerala government had in September 2019 referred to the CBI a corruption case related to the Rs 256-crore pollution control and expansion project of the state-owned Travancore Titanium Products Ltd. Former chief minister Oommen Chandy and his former cabinet colleagues Ramesh Chennithala and V.K. Ebrahim Kunju were the accused in the graft case. The CBI, however, refused to take up the case.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had on Monday slammed central agencies for trying to destabilise his government, calling the undue interventions in the state’s functioning a violation of federal principles.
The strong remarks came after the Enforcement Directorate demanded files pertaining to several flagship projects like the Kerala Fibre Optics Network that would offer free high-speed Internet to the poor and subsidised connectivity to everyone else.
Chennithala on Wednesday said Vijayan was scared of central agencies. “Why is he scared of investigations? It is cowardly to stop these agencies.”
The Congress leader attributed the government’s decision to the recent arrest of CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan’s son Bineesh Kodiyeri in Bangalore over a money-laundering case.
The ED on Wednesday raided Bineesh’s homes in Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur apart from several other properties belonging to his friends.
Bineesh is in ED custody in Bangalore after being arrested last week for allegedly funding drug peddlers.
