New Delhi: On Wednesday, India’s Supreme Court put a stop to a court order that told the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) to look into the chief principal secretary of Kerala’s Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for accusations about having too much money compared to his official income.
Justices Dipankar Datta and Manmohan said they wanted to hear from the CBI, the Kerala government, and the person who made the complaint, K M Abraham, who used to work as an IAS officer and is the Chief Minister’s chief principal secretary.
Abraham’s lawyer, R. Basant, argued that the CBI couldn’t even start an investigation without permission under a specific law.
Earlier, on April 11, the Kerala High Court had ordered the CBI to step in and investigate Abraham based on a complaint from activist Jomon Puthenpurackal. The high court carefully looked at earlier investigations and found that Abraham seemed to have properties worth a lot more than what his official income would allow. They felt the local investigation by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) wouldn’t make people trust the results, so they insisted that the CBI take over the investigation.
The high court also mentioned that a previous decision made in 2017 had wrongly dismissed the complaints against Abraham. They found this decision unreasonable and felt the judge had not fully considered important details about Abraham’s properties.
The complainant alleged that during his job, Abraham bought an apartment in Mumbai for Rs 3 crore, another one worth Rs 1 crore in Thiruvananthapuram, and built a three-story shopping complex in Kollam for around Rs 8 crore. Abraham has firmly denied any wrongdoing.
Supreme Court Halts CBI Case Against Kerala CM’s Chief Secretary
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