Kochi, February 23 : The Kerala high court on Thursday issued a one-week stay on the case pertaining to charges of nepotism against CPI(M) leader and former industries minister E P Jayarajan.

The court stayed the case on a petition filed by Jayarajan’s niece Sudheer Nambiar, who is also an accused in the case, seeking to quash the vigilance case against him.

The case pertains to the charge that E P Jayarajan abused his office as industries minister to appoint his kin in public sector units under the industries department.

Issuing the stay, the HC asked the VACB to ascertain the legality of appointing relatives, whether Mr. Jayarajan abused his authority as minister to make the appointment, and whether decisions by ministers would fall within the ambit of vigilance probe.

While considering Mr. Nambiar’s plea, the high court once again rapped the vigilance and anti-corruption bureau.

The court said that it would intervene if the vigilance exceeded its authority, adding that it was incumbent on the courts to fulfil its constitutional obligations.

The HC also laid out a few guidelines delineating the powers of the VACB.

The VACB should only look into cases of corruption and misconduct, the court said.

The agency had come under fire from the high court recently over a number of instances where it was found to be overstepping its bounds.

The HC had rapped the VACB the other day for calling into question the decision taken by the previous Oommen Chandy-led cabinet to appoint Sankar Reddy IPS as vigilance chief.

The very next day, the HC again pulled up the VACB for changing its stance on the bribery scandal after the LDF govt. assumed power.

The court had asked whether a ‘vigilance raj’ was prevailing in the state.

In the wake of such criticisms, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said that the government would hold consultations with the acting chief justice to delineate the contours of the agency’s authority with respect to registering cases.

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