Thiruvananthapuram: Even as the Kerala government has formally called for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the 2013 solar case involving Congress bigwigs in the state, the fate of the Titanium graft case offers valuable insights into the prospects of the former sensational case.
In late 2019 the state government wanted the CBI to probe the corruption case pertaining to the installation of a waste water treatment plant at the Travancore Titanium Products Limited (TTPL) in Thiruvananthapuram. It was alleged the state exchequer suffered a loss of about Rs 200 crore over the pollution control project in the state-owned manufacturer. Former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy, opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and a few bureaucrats are among the accused.
But the central government didn't allow the CBI to take up the case. The Union Department of Personnel and Training had rejected the state's demand for a CBI probe into the Titanium corruption case based on the reply received from the Kochi unit of the central agency.
Usually the state government demands a CBI probe when there are inter-state jurisdictional issues are involved or when the investigations by the state government agencies like the police reach a dead-end or when the complainants allege that they have no faith in the state police.
Pressure on CBI
The opinion of Thiruvananthapuram unit of the CBI will be decisive regarding whether or not to take up the solar case for probe.
According to CBI sources, petitions demanding CBI probe into at least 400 cases are pending before the Kerala High Court. Of these only 10 percent cases are of serious nature. Even if a decision is taken for a CBI probe, further action on the matter has to be taken by the Thiruvananthapuram unit.
At the moment the Thiruvananthapuram unit does not have sufficient staff to probe even cases of serious nature.
The CBI sources said there is confusion as to who has the charge of Thiruvananthapuram unit. Nandakumaran Nair, SP who was in charge of the unit , retired on November 30. He was given an extension for six months and the contract ends on May 31. Nair got the extension in connection with pending cases related to Mumbai.
Recent CBI cases in Kerala
Recently, the CBI had taken up the Popular Finance fraud case reported from central Kerala and even constituted a special team for investigation.
However, the state government had opposed CBI probe into the 2012 Shukkoor murder case and 2019 Periya double murder case.
The state government’s petition opposing CBI a probe into the Periya case was rejected by the Supreme court recently. The petition opposing CBI probe into Shukkoor murder case is currently pending before the apex court.
The state government had also challenged CBI's role in probing the Vadakkencherry Life Mission corruption case. Its petition against the high court decision to allow CBI to continue its probe into the case will come up for hearing at the Supreme Court today, Jan 25.
On November 4, the state government had withdraw the general consent given to CBI for investigating cases in Kerala amid worsening ties with the centre over the assertive role of central agencies. Though the CBI had registered the Life Mission case in September, the state government has argued that the probe by the central agency without its consent was violation of federal principles.
