Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed a petition seeking a CBI probe into the alleged letter written by Thiruvananthapuram Mayor Arya Rajendran seeking recommendations for filling various vacancies in the health wing of the corporation.
Justice K Babu dismissed the plea saying the claims of the petitioner -- a former Councillor of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation -- regarding the impartiality of the the Crime Branch wing of the police are without any solid foundation.
"The averments regarding the impartiality of the investigating agency in the writ petition are without any solid foundation. The petitioner has failed to place any concrete material compelling transfer of investigation," the court said and dismissed the plea.
The court said the petitioner G S Sreekumar had alternate remedies to redress his grievances.
In the plea filed through advocate K R Rajkumar, Sreekumar had also sought appointment of a commission, headed by a sitting judge not below the rank of a subordinate judge, to look into the allegations made by him against the Mayor in his plea.
The court rejected that plea as well by saying that according to the provisions of the Commissions of Inquiry Act of 1952, it was "crystal clear" that there was no legal or statutory obligation upon the State government to appoint a Commission of Inquiry even if it was a matter of public importance.
"As the statute imposed no legal duty on the government to appoint a commission, the petitioner has no legal right to enforce its performance. As the petitioner has no right under the statute he has no locus standi to seek the relief as prayed for. The writ petition fails and it stands dismissed," the court said.
BJP councillors protest
Later in the day, BJP councillors protested in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation by lying down on the Mayor's dais in the council hall and shouting slogans at Rajendran seeking her resignation.
Rajendran told reporters that the day's protest in the council hall was to cover up the embarrassment they suffered in view of the High Court decision.
"If we are opting for the legal recourse, then we should be ready to accept the court decisions also," she said.
The leak of the letter resulted in protests continuing for over a month now inside and outside the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation office by the BJP and Congress, including their youth and women wings, seeking Rajendran's resignation.
Sreekumar had contended in his plea that Rajendran and LDF Parliamentary Party secretary D R Anil requested the CPI(M) District Secretary to provide the list of party members for appointment to various posts in the Health division of the Corporation.
"The above act of nepotism of the Mayor of the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation and one of the councillors is very much against the oath taken by both of them at the time of swearing-in as councillors in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation," the petition had alleged.
The petitioner had contended the actions of Rajendran and Anil can be seen as "subverting the employment chances of thousands" who are qualified to do the jobs if the same are advertised.
He had also alleged Rajendran and Anil were creating a cadre for their party in the Corporation "by systematically employing persons who are affiliated with the CPI(M) only."
Both had denied these allegations before the High Court.
The alleged letter, written to the CPI(M) district secretary Anavoor Nagappan, had sought the priority list of party cadres to be appointed in temporary vacancies in the Left-ruled civic body.
The petitioner had further alleged that in the last two years, more than thousand appointments were made "in this fashion by the Corporation and a detailed investigation into this matter is highly necessary." It was also submitted in the petition that a complaint was filed by Sreekumar before the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau; however, he alleged that high and mighty entities might help the Mayor and the LDF Parliamentary Party Secretary to hush up the matter".
The young Mayor and the CPM leader has denied the existence of the letter and dismissed it as fake.
A preliminary report by the Vigilance said that the original letter could not be traced and that the Mayor had made a statement saying that she had not written such a letter. It also says that on the day the letter was signed, the Mayor was not in the city.
Only if the original letter is found and the signature on it is verified as authentic will the issue come under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the investigation sustain legally, the report is known to have said.
(With PTI, LiveLaw inputs.)
