Court orders probe into posting of Malabar Cements MD

THRISSUR: The Vigilance Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge C Jayachandran on Wednesday ordered a quick verification into the alleged irregularities in the appointment of K Padmakumar as Managing Director (MD) of the public sector Malabar Cements Limited (MCL).
The judge has ordered the vigilance Special Investigation Unit I (SIU), Thiruvananthapuram to submit the quick verification report (QVR) before August 31.
The order is based on a petition filed by the media activist Riyas Kuttamassery who alleged that Padmakumar did not have the required qualification to become the MD of MCL. Padmakumar was appointed MD of MCL when he was the secretary of the Public Sector Restructuring and Internal Audit Board (RIAB), and according to the petitioner he was not qualified for that post also. The petitioner alleged that Padmakumar’s appointment was made after flouting the usual procedures.
Along with the petition Riyas had produced the copies of the bio-data and degree certificates submitted by Padmakumar earlier, to support the charges that he (Padmakumar) did not have the required qualification. According to him Padmakumar did not have 15 years of experience, which was another requirement for the post. The petitioner has demanded that the probe should cover all those who were responsible for the controversial appointment. About eight corruption cases in MCL are pending before the vigilance court.