Congress wants to reprobe scandal-ridden KSTP, target may not be Gyanesh Kumar alone

The LDF government, in 2006, had issued orders for four vigilance investigations into the multi-crore Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) following allegations of irregularities in the execution of work and awarding of consultancy, but never seemed to pursue the cases.

Assembly records, accessed by Onmanorama, show that the probes had dragged on for years, with most of the investigations never reaching the prosecution stage. The UDF government is now set to reopen these investigations, which allegedly cover the period when Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had served as the PWD secretary in Kerala.

According to assembly records of a session in 2010, then Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, in a reply, stated that a vigilance probe was underway into the irregularities in awarding consultancy of the project to foreign firms by excluding Indian companies and Kerala-based firms. In December 2006, a second probe was ordered by the government to look into the lapses in construction works of the KSTP.

A third vigilance case was related to irregularities in fixing the price of buildings which had to be demolished for the project at Pulamon junction in Kollam. The government had given prosecution sanction in this case.

In a fourth case, following a surprise inspection, Bhageeratha Engineering Company, a partner of PATI (company entrusted with KSTP), was asked to pay back the extra amount it had received for maintenance works on Thamarassery Road. The reply showed that the investigations initiated in 2006 dragged on for 4 years, and Kodiyeri had then told the assembly that the final report could not be furnished.

Besides the vigilance probe, the CAG had reported wasteful expenditure and fraud to the tune of ₹92.7 crores in connection with KSTP. Gyanesh Kumar was removed as the PWD secretary following allegations of corruption in KSTP in November 2006. He was not given any new posting and Mathew C Kunnumkal was appointed as the PWD secretary. It was on November 11, 2006, that Lee See Been, Chief Project Manager, PATI-BEL, committed suicide after the project ran into rough weather and got mired in corruption allegations.

As corruption allegations surfaced over the project, it also led to a political blame game.

Thomas Isaac, while serving as the MLA, in September 2005 had quoted a note by the Finance Department which called it absurd to award a road work which cost ₹1.25crore per kilometre. Isaac went on to become the Finance Minister when the LDF government came to power in 2006. Opposition Leader Oommen Chandy then hit back and sought an explanation from Isaac for giving an additional amount to the company for completion of works.

Isaac told Onmanorama that the government was forced to pay liquidated damages to the company and not a single memo was sent by the departments to the company citing lapses. “I even summoned Gyanesh to my cabin and asked about this,” he recalled. Isaac, however, said he didn’t know why the vigilance investigation didn’t proceed despite the gravity of allegations.

Upendra Varma, who had then served as the Vigilance Director, told Onmanorama that he didn’t recall a vigilance probe centering around Gyanesh Kumar. Mathew C Kunnumkal, who replaced Gyanesh Kumar, could not be reached for comments. While a suicide note allegedly written by Lee was widely quoted in 2006, former Intelligence ADGP Jacob Punnose said he hadn’t come across any such note, as Malaysian police never got in touch with Kerala police as part of the probe into Lee’s suicide.

Manoj Abraham, Vigilance Director, said that an initial file search has not furnished much about the old investigations. Officials with the Home Department said that Vigilance will resume the probe if the old files warrant one, and the officials are also looking into the circumstances which caused the probe to slow down.

Former PWD Minister M K Muneer has welcomed the investigation and said that there was one probe against him in connection with the KSTP and the court had found him not guilty.

Varghese Kunnampally, PWD Contractors Association President, who closely followed the developments said that there were instances of political interventions and a fair probe will reveal everything.