Kochi: The Kerala High Court has declined a CBI probe into the illegal felling of trees on assigned land.
The order came on a plea filed by a Thrissur resident, George Vattakulam, who is the state president of Malayala Vedi, pointing out that the probe being conducted by the agencies under the State government was not effective.
The plea had also cited the delay in arresting the accused in the Muttil tree felling case.
The court accepted the government's argument that all procedures related to the probe had been completed and the main accused in the case had also been arrested.
The court felt that there were no circumstances that warranted the handing over of the case to the CBI. It also made it clear that the petitioner or the general public could approach the court in the event of any lapses in the investigation.
Earlier, the delay in arresting the accused in the case had invited sharp criticism from the court. The court had then asked why not even a single person was arrested despite the registration of 701 cases in connection with tree felling.
With the court's criticism triggering a major controversy, the police arrested the accused, Augustine brothers -- Anto, Roji, and Josekutty -- in a dramatic fashion. The accused were intercepted and arrested while they were on their way to their native place, Wayanad, after hearing about their mother's demise.
There were reports that the arrest of the accused got delayed because of their 'high connections'. Meanwhile, the Augustine brothers have approached the high court for securing bail.
The accused had argued that they had the government's permission to fell trees from their land. However, the government has claimed that they were not given permission and also that they had felled trees from other assigned lands as well.
