Kasaragod: The outgoing Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front Government in Kerala accorded sanction to prosecute retired IPS officer Jacob Thomas for alleged "abuse of power" during his stint as the Director of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB).

The order was issued because Thomas reinitiated a corruption inquiry against the former Chief Executive Officer of Kerala Waqf Board, Adv T M Jamal Patel, "based on a complaint that was already closed by the government" for lack of evidence, and "without fresh complaint and authority". 

Chief Secretary A Jayathilak issued the six-page order on March 17, a day after the election model code of conduct came into effect.

Thomas, a Director General of Police (DGP)-rank officer, had an eventful 34 years of service during which he was at loggerheads with successive governments led by the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), leading to his suspension from 2017 to the end of 2019. After he retired as the Managing Director of the Metal Industries, Shoranur, in May 2020, he joined the BJP just before the 2021 Assembly elections. He contested against Higher Education Minister R Bindu in Irinjalakuda and came third in 2021. 

Adv Jamal Patel, who had his own run-ins with the Left government during his tenure as CEO of the Waqf Board, is set to become the next president of the Kasaragod District Congress Committee (DCC). He said he had sought the government’s permission to press charges against the retired IPS officer in April 2024. “His actions hurt my reputation and affected my stint at the Central Waqf Council,” Adv Jamal Patel said. 

Nearly two years after his petition, the government granted sanction to prosecute Thomas and V Suresh, then Inspector of Police with the VACB, under Sections 218 (framing incorrect records), 120B (criminal conspiracy), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

To be sure, this is not the first time the LDF government has granted sanction to prosecute Thomas. Just five days before his retirement in May 2020, the government had permitted the State Crime Branch to prosecute him for publishing his autobiography -  ‘Sravukalkkoppam Neenthumbol’ (“Swimming With Sharks”) without prior approval. Now, it has granted sanction to a private individual to initiate prosecution against him.

Alleged abuse of official position
According to the government order, the case centres on the alleged improper reopening of a vigilance inquiry against Jamal Patel based on a complaint that had already been examined and closed.

In July 2012, Nassir Manayil of the Waqf Samrakshana Samithi filed a complaint with VACB accusing Jamal Patel, then CEO of the Waqf Board, of amassing wealth disproportionate to his known source of income.

A Confidential Verification Report (CVR) conducted by an Inspector of VACB Ernakulam Range in 2013 found no evidence of disproportionate assets. Though the VACB Director accepted the report, the then UDF government ordered the anti-corruption bureau to furnish specific remarks on the allegations of amassing illegal wealth and property mentioned by Nassir Manayil.

This time, Inspector V Suresh of VACB's Special Cell in Kozhikode did the Confidential Verification and submitted the report in July 2014.

Inspector Suresh found that Jamal Patel's expenditure was in line with his income of Rs 41.11 lakh, and he had a net savings of Rs 13.35 lakh. Based on the report, the government closed the file and reported the matter to the Director of VACB on September 19, 2014.

In 2016, the BJP-led Union government appointed Adv Jamal Patel as the Secretary of the Central Waqf Council under the Ministry of Minority Affairs. By then, the LDF came to power, and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan appointed Jacob Thomas as the Director of Vigilance & Anti-Corruption Bureau to clean up the government. The LDF took a liking to him because he was critical of the Oommen Chandy-led government.

As the Director of VACB, Thomas issued a Vigilance Clearance Certificate to Jamal Patel to join the Central Waqf Council on deputation on September 7, 2016.

Two months later, on November 17, 2016, during a camp in Kozhikode, VACB Director Thomas ordered an inquiry into Nassir Manayil's old complaint, which had already been closed by a government order.

Interestingly, the second Confidential Vigilance Report was also prepared by the same Inspector Suresh.

His team conducted searches at Jamal Patel's ancestral house in Kasaragod's Kottikulam on February 27 and March 13, 2018. "The searches were conducted in the presence of the media, bringing bad repute to me. I was constrained to give up my job as Secretary to the Central Waqf Council in Delhi," he said.

In the sanction order dated September 17, the government said that the same officer (Inspector Suresh) conducted both confidential verification, but adopted two different check periods, viz. 2003-2012 and 2007-2016, "without satisfactory justification". "It is also viewed that the second confidential verification, after closure of the first verification by the government, in the absence of any fresh complaint or government direction, was without substantive basis and amounts to abuse of official power," the order said.

When contacted, Adv Jamal Patel said he would soon initiate criminal proceedings against Jacob Thomas and V Suresh, likely in Kozhikode, where he alleged the conspiracy to target and defame him was hatched.

A native of Kasaragod, Jamal Patel was appointed CEO of the Kerala Waqf Board in 2001 after a legal battle, despite having secured first rank in the PSC selection process. His appointment had initially been delayed due to his role as the Youth Congress district president at the time.

He said that after his two-year stint as Secretary of the Central Waqf Council, he rejoined the Kerala Waqf Board as CEO in 2018 and remained in the post until his retirement in 2022.

“Only after I retired did I decide to hold Jacob Thomas accountable. It took me nearly two years to obtain all the necessary documents from the government to file the petition seeking sanction to prosecute him,” he said.