THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition Leader V.S. Achuthanandan on Monday filed a complaint before Inquiry Commissioner and Special Judge (Vigilance) seeking to make chief minister Oommen Chandy the first accused in the Pattoor land grab case.
The complaint seeking investigations into the role of Mr Chandy and senior officials in the case was taken on file and posted to December 30 for hearing.
Mr Achuthanandan, who arrived at the vigilance court personally to file the complaint, also demanded a probe against Mr Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, the then revenue
minister.
The other accused in the petition include former chief secretary E.K. Bharat Bhushan, former KWA MD Ashok Kumar Singh, senior revenue department official T.V. Vijaya Kumar and T.S. Ashok, managing director, Artech Realtors Ltd.
VS filed the complaint under section 190(1) of the Code of CrPC 1973 and section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1998, alleging that the chief minister and officials, including the former chief secretary, had enabled the private realtor to obtain pecuniary benefits by allowing them to grab approximately 30 cents of government land vested with KWA.+
He submitted that the chief minister and other accused had no power or authority to take decisions regarding the properties of the KWA.
It is not in dispute that the pipeline in question was laid about 50 years back. There is no provision in the KWA and Sewerage Act, 1986 enabling the government to issue direction for shifting the pipeline.
However, the chief minister and others with ulterior motive to save the realtors, who are the encroachers on public property, took hasty decisions for shifting the water authority pipeline. The speed with which they acted after the joint inspection report indicated their unholy nexus with the realtor.
He accused them of deliberate action, intentional omission and conspiracy to legalise the illegal occupation of the public property measuring about 30 cents at a prime residential area in Pattoor. The value of the property in that area was around Rs 80 lakh per cent.
According to Mr Achuthanandan, the chief minister had directed the revenue secretary to conduct a quick inquiry to find out the facts and suggest appropriate action.
Based on the directive, the land revenue commissioner filed a report on September 13, 2013 accepting the findings of vigilance department that there were serious lapses on the part of the collector.
He accused the chief minister and others of committing offences punishable under section 120 B of the IPC and section 13 of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
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