Kochi: The Muvattupuzha Vigilance Court on Tuesday rejected the petition demanding vigilance probe against Vigilance Director Jacob Thomas in connection with alleged irregularities in the purchase of dredger when he was the Ports Director. The court pointed out that the report of Additional Secretary Finance is in the nature of a 'fault finding' inquiry and it has not much importance as it was not a report submitted by an independent agency especially when there exist Vigilance inquiries initiated by the present director and on the basis of complaints filed before courts against the Finance Secretary who has prepared the report.
A person called Michael Varghese had approached the Vigilance Court to conduct a probe on the allegation that the state exchequer suffered a loss of '15 crore. The petition alleges that the installation of solar panels at 14 ports in the state had incurred huge loss for the state. The court also noted that the proposal submitted by Jacob Thomas while he was the Director before the Department Purchase Committee in June 2012.
It can be seen that the Tender for supply of Cutter Suction Dredger (CSD) by BEML was submitted only on Re-Tender and BEML is not manufacturing CSD and it has offered to supply the same through a tie up with another company, The matter was considered in the earlier Quick Verification report produced before the court in January 2015 which was conducted prior to the appointment of Jacob Thomas as Vigilance Director. Court further observed that it is for the government to consider how the notes of Chief Secretary (showing as confidential) is made available to a private individual for producing in this case. Court also observed that the complaint should have been filed before the Thiruva-nanthapuram Vigilance court as case had taken place in its jurisdiction.
