Home minister unaware of vigilance petition

Kochi: Home minister Ra mesh Chennithala seems to have been unaware of the deci sion of the vigilance and anti corruption bureau (VACB) to file the application before the high court, seeking a stay on Thrissur vigilance court's order to register FIR against resigned excise minister K Babu Instead of filing a separate petition, an interim application was filed by VACB director Sankar Reddy in a pending case along with an affidavit supporting the demand for staying the vigilance court's order.
Sources close to the home minister said that he was unaware of the developments at the high court on Monday . “It seems there was some directive from CMO to AG's office that translated into the petition today“, said a source.
It is not the first time that the VACB, which is the chief agency of the state to probe corruption cases, has approached the high court with a petition that would in effect come to the aid of the accused. When Thiruvananthapuram vigilance court ordered further investigation against former minister K M Mani in the bar bribery case, it was the VACB that approached the high court as the aggrieved party . While considering the petition on September 11 last year, the high court had then severely criticized this practice and pointed out that such an exercise was being undertaken at the expense of the public.
In the petition seeking a stay on Thrissur vigilance court's order against minister Babu, the VACB director complained that the court had made disparaging remarks about the functioning of the agency . A similar argument was used by the VACB when it approached the high court in the Mani case too.