THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Additional Chief Secretary K.M. Abraham, who guarded the State’s finances during the UDF and continues to hold fort, says it is the spirit that matters especially when “your own minister conspires against you”. The reference to the minister is definitely not to his current boss, the Finance Minister, Dr Thomas Isaac, with whom he strikes a chord. But he wouldn’t want to disclose who he referred to in the acceptance speech, read out by his professor at IIT Kanpur, Dr. Kripa Sanker, in Kanpur on November 2.
Accepting, in absentia, the Satyendra Kumar Dubey Award, Dr Abraham said: “I have spent nearly 35 years in the Indian Administrative Service. I have gone through some really tough times. Sometimes, I have felt that the whole world is pitted against you – and that you seem to be isolated and lonely in doing the things you believe in. “I have seen times when your own Minister conspires against you. I have seen times when the might of the CBI and authorities are unleashed on you. At these times the journey becomes bitter, the road becomes unendurably rough. All that matters is your spirit”.
“Getting into the IAS was a great feeling for me. But it was IITK that taught me what excellence was truly about. I studied with the best. I was taught by the best. I learned what endurance is all about. “IITK imbued in me with its lofty ideals of excellence and the need to cultivate and nurture an indomitable spirit in life… But then what is it after all in comparison to the agony that Sri. Satyendra Kumar Dubey went through his life as a crusader for justice and truth. Each year, when the award is handed over, it is an opportunity to revere his memory and pray for his soul”.
Dr Abraham is lucky to have lived to receive the award instituted in memory of the fellow ITT-ian, who had paid with his life for taking on the engineer-contractor mafia. His body was found by the road in Jharkhand on November 27, 2003. He was in charge of an NHAI project. It is sheer coincidence that Dr Abraham was selected for the award at a time when several quarters are baying for his blood and even the might of the Vigilance has been set upon him. The award committee said: “This award (is), the most prestigious award that the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur confers on its alumni and alumni of any other IIT who have demonstrated the highest integrity and sacrifice to uphold the values in society”.
Alleges conspiracy behind probe
Additional chief secretary K.M. Abraham has alleged a conspiracy behind the Vigilance probe against him and sought a probe into that aspect also. It may be recalled that Mr Shanker Reddy, DGP, State Crime Records Bureau, had also raised suspicions over the intentions of the petitions filed against him. According to sources, Mr. Abraham told a Vigilance team on Thursday that he suspected the role of Kerala State Cashew Develop-ment Corporation former chairman R. Chandrasekharan and former managing director K.A. Ratheesan in raising allegations against him as he had exposed corruption at the corporation. This had even led to a CBI probe.
Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) Thiruvananth-apuram special cell SP S. Rajendran took Mr Abraham's statement on Thursday in connection with the preliminary inquiry against him. The inquiry was ordered by a Vigilance special court here on the basis of a petition filed by activist Jomon Puthenpurackal alleging amassment of illegal wealth by Mr. Abraham.
Sources said that Mr Abraham told the Vigilance team that he strongly suspected the real intention of the petitioner and hence a probe should be conducted into that aspect also. Vigilance sources preferred to be tight-lipped on the status of the probe. Mr. Reddy, who is facing a Vigilance probe for allegedly scuttling the bar bribery probe, had earlier sent a letter to Vigilance director Jacob Thomas raising suspicions of nexus between petitioner Paichira Navas and a senior Vigilance official. Meanwhile, the VACB is yet to take a decision on the explanation by SP Rajendran to a notice issued for inspection at Mr Abraham's flat, allegedly without following norms.
