Thiruvananthapuram: The state government has decided to approach the High Court for clarity on norms to be followed by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau in the wake of the court’s poser whether the State is under “Vigilance Raj”.
At the Cabinet briefing here on Wednesday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the HC criticism was a matter of serious and genuine concern and the Government would have to get issues clarified.
"The government has not taken unilateral decisions in cases being dealt by the Vigilance. If the Vigilance does not act on complaints it receives, the complainant will approach court and get a directive to the Vigilance. Hence we need a clarification from the court, for which we will approach acting Chief Justice. Let the acting chief justice prescribe norms related to Vigilance cases," said Mr Vijayan.
The CM’s comment came amid reports that Vigilance director Jacob Thomas, indirectly resentful of the HC’s recent adverse remarks, issued a notice that VACB would not entertain any complaints against major projects. But Mr Vijayan said in reply to questions that he was ignorant of any such notice issued by Mr Thomas.
Earlier in the day, the VACB headquarters here witnessed dramatic scenes as the director’s notice displayed on the noticeboard disappeared as soon as the media got wind of it. The notice was pulled down as soon as media persons reached the spot. Mr. Jacob Thomas was not available to give his comments on the matter.
On Monday and Tuesday, the High Court in two separate cases berated the Vigilance. It asked whether an inspector was entrusted with judging the merits and demerits of the Cabinet decision to promote Mr Shanker Reddy as DGP and whether Vigilance Raj prevailed in the State. In the second bar bribery case involving former Finance Minister K M Mani, the court criticized the double standard of the Vigilance and warned it against trying to use the court to play politics.
