Court dismisses vigilance report giving clean chit to ADGP MR Ajith Kumar

In a major setback for ADGP M R Ajith Kumar, the Vigilance Special Court here on Thursday dismissed the report filed by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau(VACB) that had given a clean chit to the police officer in the disproportionate assets case.

The clean chit, earlier accepted by the government based on the vigilance director’s report stating that no disproportionate wealth was found, has now been invalidated by the court. The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) probe was initiated following allegations raised by former Nilambur MLA P V Anvar. The vigilance conducted a probe into the land purchased by Ajith Kumar in the name of his brother-in-law at Kowdiar in Thiruvananthapuram and the luxurious house built on the plot.

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While passing the order on the petition filed by advocate P Nagaraj, who had sought a dismissal of the Vigilance clean chit, the Vigilance Special Court judge Manoj A said that the complainant had produced documents and that prima facie there was merit in his complaint. The court also observed that the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) team did not conduct a fair probe into the allegations and decided to investigate on its own. The complainant, Nagaraj, has been directed to give his statement on August 30, after which the statements of the witnesses will be recorded, the court ruled.

The court said the VACB manipulated the inquiry to save ADGP M R Ajith Kumar (currently serving as Excise Commissioner) in the probe related to misappropriation of wealth.

The Vigilance, which conducted a preliminary inquiry into allegations of amassing wealth, had filed a report stating that the officer did not commit any cognisable offence, and, hence, no further action was required against him. However, the complainant petitioned the court, claiming that the Vigilance had conducted the inquiry in a biased manner, favouring the officer and bypassing rules.

Advocate Nagaraj approached the Vigilance Court challenging the Vigilance report that had given s clean chit to Ajith Kumar. In his petition, Nagaraj alleged that a plot of land worth Rs 70 lakh was purchased in Kowadiar, Thiruvananthapuram, in the name of the officer’s brother-in-law, and a luxurious house was constructed on it using allegedly corrupt funds.