Thiruvananthapuram: Former Vigilance director Shanker Reddy has said that the letters that he had sent to SP R. Sukesan regarding the bar bribery case were to point out contradictions and seek clarifications. “I only discharged my duties as a supervisory officer and never gave any undue directives to refer the case,” Reddy, who is now director, State Crime Records Bureau, told DC. He was responding to the preliminary inquiry ordered by a Vigilance special court into the alleged attempt to sabotage the case.
While the Vigilance court order referred to four letters sent by Shanker Reddy to Sukesan, Vigilance sources clarified that all these were seeking clarifications. Moreover, two of those letters were sent after Sukesan submitted the final report on January 5, 2016 maintaining that the case should be dropped owing to lack of evidence. Hence those letters of Shanker Reddy to Sukesan on January 6 and January 11 could not be considered as directives to refer the case.
According to sources, Shanker Reddy, after taking over as Vigilance director, evaluated the case and sent a letter to Sukesan on December 23, 2015 seeking clarifications on the inconsistencies in the statements of bar owner Saju Dominic and driver Ambili with their mobile phone details. Clarifications were also sought whether the business rules of the government were examined. The letter on December 26 was regarding the credibility of the lie detection test of Ambili, especially since reply to all queries were ‘yes’. After Sukesan submitted a final report on January 5, 2016 suggesting that the case may be dropped, Shanker Reddy sent letters on January 6 and 11 citing certain contradictions.
