Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Secretary S M Vijayanand has forwarded a recommendation of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to place additional chief secretary Tom Jose under suspension to the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The Chief Minister is likely to take a decision soon. After registering a case against Mr. Jose in connection with alleged corruption in magnesium purchase by Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited, the VACB recommended that Mr. Jose might be placed under suspension. Mr. Jose was the former managing director of the public sector undertaking.
Government sources said that the Chief Secretary sent the VACB's recommendation along with his remarks to the Chief Minister two days back. But the chief secretary preferred to be tight-lipped on his remark. He had discussed about the case with Mr. Jose, though no formal explanations was sought from him, it was learnt. According to the VACB, KMML suffered a loss of Rs 1.21 crore on the irregularities in the purchase of magnesium by initiating global tender.
