By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : A special vigilance judge here Monday ordered a re-investigation into the infamous palm oil import scam which engulfed P.J. Thomas, former central vigilance commissioner, whose appointment as the anti-corruption watchdog was set aside by the Supreme Court earlier this month.
The order comes following a discharge petition filed by T.H. Mustafa, the former food minister of Kerala, during whose tenure the import deal was finalised.
The import of 15,000 tonnes of palm oil was undertaken in 1992. The case was registered in 1999, when the Communists, led by E.K. Nayanar, were in power.
Former chief minister K. Karunakaran, Mustafa and bureaucrats P.J. Thomas and Jiji Thompson were charged with causing a loss of Rs.2.32 crore to the exchequer by importing oil from Malaysia at an inflated price.
P.J. Thomas was the food and civil supplies secretary in the Kerala government at the time.
His appointment as the CVC created a major furore, with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party accusing the United Progressive Alliance government of ignoring the chargesheet against Thomas.
Leader of opposition Oommen Chandy, who was the finance minister when the import deal was signed, welcomed the court order.
“I welcome the decision of the Special Vigilance Court ordering a re-investigation that came out today… this was a case that was registered 15 years back and the chargesheet was filed 10 years back, where I was not made an accused but only a witness,” he told reporters here.
Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, however, said it was too early to comment.
“See, the court has ordered a re-investigation and at the moment, we will wait for the outcome,” he said.
The court order will be made available Tuesday.