Illegal assets case: Setback for ADGP Ajith Kumar as court rejects Vigilance clean chit

Thiruvananthapuram: In a setback for ADGP M R Ajith Kumar in the illegal assets case, the Special Vigilance Court on Thursday rejected the clean chit report submitted by the Vigilance department. The court dismissed the report, which had earlier been approved by the government.

The decision came after the court examined the case diary, the original copy of the investigation report, the government order related to the probe, and witness statements. The investigation had been conducted by a special unit of the Vigilance under Deputy Superintendent Shibu Pappachan, who submitted the report.

Stating that the clean chit report could not be accepted, the court said it would directly record the complainant’s statement on the 30th of this month. Further proceedings will now be under the direct supervision of the court, which will also record witness statements itself.

The petitioner argued that since the officers who conducted the probe were working under the ADGP, the clean chit was biased. The petitioner alleged that the Vigilance failed to investigate charges that Ajith Kumar had purchased land worth ₹33 lakh under Pattom sub-registrar’s jurisdiction, bought a flat in Kowdiar for ₹31 lakh and sold it for ₹65 lakh.

According to the petitioner, Ajith Kumar, along with his brother-in-law, purchased land in Kowdiar worth ₹70 lakh per cent and built a luxury residence using illicit funds. The petitioner also alleged that the ADGP received undue help from Chief Minister’s political secretary P Sasi for this purpose.

The report had concluded that Ajith Kumar was not involved in corruption related to house construction, flat purchase, or gold smuggling. The Vigilance probe was based on allegations made by former MLA P V Anvar, who claimed that Malappuram SP Sujith Das had aided gold smuggling through Karipur airport and shared the proceeds with Ajith Kumar. The investigation found this allegation to be baseless, noting that the highest quantity of gold was seized during Sujith Das’s tenure, and even Customs officials were made accused in some cases. No link between Ajith Kumar and the illegal tree felling at the Malappuram SP’s camp office was found, the report stated.

The second allegation concerned irregularities in the construction of the luxury residence in Kawdiar. However, the report stated that the house was built on an area less than half the size claimed in the allegations. It was also found that Ajith Kumar had taken a loan of ₹1.5 crore from SBI for the construction, had informed the government about the project on time, and had included it in his property declaration.

Another allegation was that he purchased a flat in Kuravankonam and sold it within 10 days for double the price. The Vigilance concluded that this was due to natural appreciation in value and found no irregularities in the sale.