In a significant development, the Kottayam vigilance court has summarily dismissed a quick verification report into the alleged misappropriation of funds by the Meenachil Rubber Marketing and Processing Cooperative Society and directed the agency to submit a detailed report in three months.
In an order, M. Manoj, Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge, has directed the investigation officer to probe how the society’s director board misappropriated ₹69 crore as well as the role of the accused in the scam.
Digging its heels further in, the court also asked to report the action taken on a recommendation to conduct enquiry by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) Special Cell, Ernakulam into the alleged amassment of disproportionate assets by Joy Nadukkara, former member of the bank’s director board as well as the 14th respondent in the case.
“If a proper enquiry had been conducted, it would have been possible to find out the irregularities made by the respondents regarding the utilization of fixed deposits. The enquiry officer has not probed about the manner in which the amount of ₹69,32,81,481 received as fixed deposits by the society at a higher rate of interest was utilized. In the said circumstances, the prayer of the investigating officer to drop further proceedings in this case is not acceptable’’, read the order.
The Deputy Superintendent of Police, VACB Kottayam, had submitted a quick verification report on the alleged scam in January last year.
Verifying the order, the court found that without conducting a detailed and scientific enquiry as to what happened to ₹69 crore collected as fixed deposits, the enquiry officer jumped into an assumption that it was utilised for the conduct of business of the society. Though the investigation found out that Mr. Nadukkara and his family members had withdrawn all their fixed deposits, the officer sought to interpret it as an attempt to obtain undue pecuniary advantage through a higher interest rate.
Founded in March 1960, the Meenachil society had served as the backbone of Kerala’s latex-based economy for nearly five decades and ran an array of establishments including centrifugal latex and crumb rubber factories. In its prime, the society had operated more than 60 centres to collect natural rubber and over 14% of the total rubber produced in the country originated from the operational area of the society, which had more than 12,000 members in its roll.
