Cashew corp graft case: Kerala HC sees ‘prima facie’ contempt in denial of prosecution nod

Kochi: High court has held that, prima facie, the industries department (cashew) principal secretary has committed the offence of civil contempt by denying prosecution sanction in the Cashew Corporation graft case in violation of court directives.The court further directed A P M Muhamed Hanish, the principal secretary, to appear in person at 10.15am on May 18 for further proceedings in the contempt case. The bench of Justice A Badharudeen was considering a contempt petition filed by Kadakampally Manoj of Kollam against the state govt for allegedly refusing to grant prosecution sanction to CBI in the graft case, despite court orders.HC observed that the stand taken by the govt, ignoring the report of CBI and the findings of the court, is unjustifiable and indicates that the govt is hesitant to grant sanction to prosecute the accused in this case for reasons known to it. The stand is arbitrary, against public interest and in gross violation of the findings of HC. The court also set aside the principal secretary's order denying prosecution sanction to CBI in the graft case and directed him to reconsider the same in the light of the findings and observations in the previous judgment, in the strict sense, and to issue a fresh order on or before May 18.The case stems from allegations of large-scale corruption in the import and purchase of cashews by the Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation (KSCDC). Earlier, the CBI had investigated the allegations pursuant to an HC order issued on a petition filed by Manoj and had arrayed former KSCDC chairman and INTUC state president R Chandrasekharan, former managing director K A Ratheesh and two others as accused. Before filing its final report, CBI sought prosecution sanction from the state industries department under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The request was repeatedly denied, prompting the present contempt petition against Hanish.The state govt contended that the petition is not maintainable, as it had complied with high court's order by deciding on the application for prosecution sanction even though it was rejected, and that the appropriate remedy would be to challenge the govt order in appropriate proceedings rather than through a contempt petition. However, the court rejected the contention and observed that the contemnor had wilfully disobeyed the court's direction and had thereby, prima facie, committed the offence of civil contempt. HC also observed that the govt was reluctant to grant sanction even though the prosecution materials prima facie substantiated the commission of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act by the accused, involving a huge scam of Rs 80 crore in 2011.