Vigilance gives clean chit to VS Achuthanandan son

Thiruvananthapuram: The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau has given a clean chit to CPM senior leader and Administrative Reforms Commission chairman V. S. Achuthanandan’s son  V.A. Arunkumar in a case pertaining to the latter’s appointment at the state-run Institute of Human Resources Development (IHRD). The Vigilance special investigation unit-II filed a closure report before the inquiry commissioner and special judge (vigilance) here on Monday. The court is likely to consider the report on Tuesday and send a notice to the petitioner.

The allegation was that Mr. Arunkumar, who is now serving as additional director in IHRD, was appointed there flouting norms as he lacked the necessary experience and the experience certificate he submitted were fake ones. Irregularities were also alleged in his appointment to the ICT Academy and the Model Finishing Schools under the IHRD. A case was registered against Arunkumar, as well as a former administrative officer of IHRD Raveendran Nair, in this regard in 2015 after a preliminary enquiry.

The Vigilance final report said that Arunkumar had the necessary qualifications for appointment to IHRD. “The experience certificates he submitted were not fake ones. Moreover, Arunkumar had necessary qualifications for appointment at the institute even without the experience certificates in question,” Vigilance sources said.

 The Vigilance had earlier given a clean chit to Arunkumar in another case pertaining to wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income. The Vigilance maintained that the expenses of the foreign trips carried out by Arunkumar to places like Macau, London and Singapore were found to be met by his friends and relatives. Arunkumar also faced another corruption case pertaining to the alleged financial irregularity during his tenure as managing director of the Coir Board.