Kochi: ADGP M R Ajith Kumar (currently serving as Excise Commissioner) has approached the Kerala High Court to quash the Special Vigilance Court order that accused the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) of manipulating its inquiry to protect him in a disproportionate assets case. A bench led by Justice A Badharudheen will hear the plea on Tuesday.

On August 14, Manoj A, Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge (Vigilance), Thiruvananthapuram, rejected the VACB report and made strong observations against the inquiry officers. The court questioned how the officer could dismiss the allegations without fixing the check period or assessing Ajith Kumar’s income, expenditure, and savings.

It is evident that the inquiry officer, contrary to the guidelines, prepared a report favouring the suspected officer to exonerate him from the allegations, the order stated. It added that from the outset, the probe appeared intended only to shield the officer and lacked legal justification.

The Vigilance Director had forwarded the report in March 2025, claiming departmental verification and approval by the Chief Minister. The court, however, noted that no such approval was required and criticised the interference.

The Vigilance probe was ordered in September 2024 on the recommendation of the State Police Chief, following a complaint by former MLA P V Anvar. Anvar alleged that Ajith Kumar, along with his wife and brothers, was constructing a luxury house worth crores on 22 cents of land in Kowdiar, Thiruvananthapuram.

In May 2025, the VACB’s Special Investigation Unit-I reported that the allegations were baseless. The report said Ajith Kumar and his family owned 80.21 cents of land in Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram valued at ₹8.77 crore, and that the new house would cost about ₹3.58 crore. It also recorded that Kumar draws a monthly salary of ₹2.33 lakh and had taken a home loan of ₹1.5 crore, concluding that the complaint was false.