The Vigilance case against BDJS leader Thushar Vellappally and a few others in connection with the appointment of two persons in the Guruvayur Devaswom was quashed by the Kerala High Court.
Allowing the appeal filed by the accused in the case, Justice R. Narayana Pisharadi also quashed the final reports filed by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau in the Vigilance Special Court, Thrissur.
The allegation was that the accused had committed criminal misconduct as defined in the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
K. Muraleedharan, Guruvayur Devaswom administrator; T.V. Chandramohan, Guruvayur Devaswom managing committee chairman; managing committee members Madhusoodhanan Pillai, Thushar Vellappally, M. Janardhanan, Sivasankaran, and Sankaranarayan, and the executive engineer (electrical) were the other accused in the case.
Though the Vigilance inspector, who did a quick verification of the allegations, had submitted a report to the special court recommending no action against any of the accused, the court did not accept it.
The trial court found that the allegations in the complaint disclosed commission of cognizable offence under the Act and directed the Vigilance Deputy Superintendent to register a case against the accused and investigate the allegations.
Quashing the report, the judge held that a mere violation of procedure in the appointment did not lead to the inference that the members of the managing committee had a dishonest intention by making such appointments, especially when the appointment was ratified by a competent authority.
Dishonest intention is the gist of the offence under the Act. The mere conduct and action of a public servant, without dishonest intention, but contrary to departmental norms, do not amount to criminal misconduct, the court held.
The court found that there was no factual basis for the allegations against the petitioners that they had committed criminal misconduct with regard to the appointments.
