Thiruvananthapuram: The Lokayukta on Monday rejected a petition against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and 18 former Ministers for alleged misuse of Chief Minister Disaster Relief Fund (CMDRF). A three-member bench comprising Lokayukta Justice Cyriac Joseph and Deputy Lokayuktas Justice Haroon Al Rashid and Justice Babu Mathew P Joseph delivered the verdict after 3pm on Monday.
'There is no evidence to prove that the CMDRF funds were misused. The CM has the right to grant a maximum amount of Rs 3 lakh from the relief fund. There is no proof that the grant was politically motivated,' the court said.
The petitioner RS Sasikumar has vowed to pursue the legal battle till the Supreme Court of India. He alleged that the Lokayukta was influenced by the government.
RS Sasikumar filed the petition against the CM and ministers on September 7, 2018. Following a disagreement in the division bench, the Lokayukta left the decision in the case to a three-member bench on March 31.
Meanwhile, the interim petition filed by the petitioner asking two Deputy Lokayuktas to recuse themselves from the case was rejected. The two officials had released the biography of former Chengannur MLA late KK Ramachandran Nair, involved in the relief fund complaint.
In his complaint, Sasikumar alleged that the following aid distributed from CMDRF amounted to misuse of funds: Rs 25 lakh was paid for the educational expenses of the children of the late Uzhavoor Vijayan, an NCP leader; Rs 8.5 lakh was given to the son of the late Ramachandran Nair - who was the MLA from Chengannur - apart from appointing him as an assistant engineer; Rs 20 lakh paid - in addition to a government job and other benefits - to the widow of a civil police officer who was killed when the pilot vehicle of the then CPM state secretary the late Kodiyeri Balakrishnan met with an accident.
The terms of Lokayukta Justice Cyriac Joseph and Deputy Lokayukta Babu Mathew P Joseph will end in January.
