Vigilance can decide registering case against Mani: HC

The vigilance director can decide registering case against Finance Minister K M Mani in the bar bribery scam, Kerala High Court opined. The vigilance director should take an independent decision after considering the report of the preliminary investigation in the case. Political intervention should not be there in the director’s decision. A division bench led by acting chief justice Ashok Bhushan said the government’s opinion should not be sought in registering the case.

The court order came after settling the pleas of CPI leader V S Sunil Kumar MLA and LDF convenor Vaikkom Viswan seeking registration of FIR against Mani. A preliminary investigation is on in the case. If a complaint is lodged to the police, a preliminary investigation will be conducted first and only if needed a case will be registered. The court pointed out that the vigilance is following the same procedures in the bar case also and so they cannot direct to register a case.

The court refused LDF’s demand to monitor the investigation. The case is only in the preliminary stage. The demand for the court to monitor the case is immature and inappropriate, the division bench pointed out. The preliminary investigation report will be submitted within a week, informed the advocate general. Bar association working president Biju Ramesh had alleged that Mani had accepted a bribe of Rs one for the closed bars to open.