Tom Jose row puts Nalini Netto in a tight corner

Thiruvananthapuram: Any vigilance action against IAS officer Tom Jose may put the government in an embarrassing situation as the present additional chief secretary (home) Nalini Netto, who is also the secretary to the Chief Minister, had earlier cleared Mr. Tom Jose of a related charge. But Ms. Netto maintains that she carried out only a preliminary probe into only one aspect. Going by precedents, the VACB is likely to recommend the suspension of additional chief secretary Tom Jose as a case of amassing disproportionate wealth to the tune of Rs 1.19 crore was registered against him.

Among the charges is that Mr. Tom Jose has an estate in Sindhudurg in Maharashtra costing over Rs 1.5 crore. Based on the recommendation of the VACB last year, then Chief Secretary E K Bharat Bhushan had ordered home secretary Nalini Netto to probe the matter. Ms. Netto did not find any irregularity in Mr. Jose taking financial assistance from his family friend Anita Jose and father-in-law P J Davies, but only found that Mr. Jose had not obtained government permission for borrowing funds from a private person. She even recommended ratification of the matter.

Government sources pointed out that since Ms. Netto herself had given a clean chit to Mr. Jose, the government would be in an embarrassing situation to take action against Mr. Jose on similar charges based on the Vigilance report, especially since Ms. Netto was also holding the key post of secretary to the Chief Minister.

Meanwhile, Ms. Netto told DC that she only carried out a preliminary enquiry on how Mr. Jose raised funds for purchasing the land in Maharashtra and how he was repaying it. “My inquiry was only limited to a specific aspect. I did not probe whether Mr. Jose amassed any other wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income,” she said. Sources point out that if the government approved any recommendation of Vigilance action against Mr. Jose, Ms. Netto might face the charge of favouring him earlier.