The Kerala High Court on Friday ordered a CBI enquiry into allegations that K M Abraham, the chief principal secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, had amassed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

A single bench of Justice K Babu issued the orders in a petition filed by public activist Jomon Puthenpurackal, who alleged that Abraham had acquired wealth beyond his means during his tenure as Additional Chief Secretary of the Finance Department in 2015.

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The court observed merit in the petition and directed the CBI’s Kochi unit to take over the case, which had earlier been closed by the State Vigilance Department during the tenure of then Vigilance Director Jacob Thomas. The High Court has ordered the Vigilance to hand over the files to CBI.

The petitioner also raised concerns over how Abraham allegedly repaid monthly loans exceeding his official salary and alleged that he had acquired properties worth crores of Rupees in various locations.

Besides being the chief principal secretary to the chief minister, Abraham is also the CEO of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board. He had retired as the state’s chief secretary in December 2017.