Kochi: The state has submitted before the Kerala High Court that the Prevention of Corruption Act cannot be invoked in the probe against VACB director Jacob Thomas for taking up a teaching job while he was on leave. The government made the submission on a plea seeking a CBI probe into the matter. The state contended that the plea seeking Mr Thomas's ouster will not legally stand. The state had already taken departmental action against him for teaching in a college. Mr Thomas had repaid the amount received from the teaching.
The petition is a service matter and not a public interest litigation, the state said and sought to reject the petition. Thrissur native Binoy had moved the court against Mr Thomas. Mr Thomas had taught at an engineering college in 2009 after applying for leave when he headed a state government enterprise. Earlier the CBII had said that it was ready to probe the case. After applying for leave, he had taken up the job of a teacher and quit four months later returning the salary he received as a teacher. The state government counsel informed the court that this was nothing more than a service issue and that it was mysterious why the CBI was showing so much interest in the case.
