Contempt plea in Cashew Corp graft case: Industries secy needn’t appear personally, rules Kerala HC

Kochi: A high court division bench has dispensed with the personal appearance of industries department principal secretary A P M Mohammed Hanish, before the single bench in a contempt case linked to the Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation (KSCDC) graft case.

The bench of Justices K Natarajan and Johnson John issued the order on an appeal filed by Hanish challenging the single bench’s direction requiring him to appear before court in the contempt case. The division bench further adjourned the appeal to June 8 for hearing on the maintainability of the appeal filed through the office of the advocate general on behalf of the appellant in the contempt proceedings.

Previously, the single bench had directed Hanish to appear before court next Monday if he failed to obtain a stay order from the division bench in the matter. As the division bench dispensed with his personal appearance till the disposal of the appeal in the contempt case, Hanish need not appear before the single bench on Monday.

The case arose from a contempt petition filed by Kadakampally Manoj of Kollam, alleging that Hanish had wilfully refused to grant prosecution sanction to CBI in the cashew corporation graft case despite earlier court directives. Earlier, acting on a petition filed by Manoj, HC had ordered a CBI probe into allegations of large-scale corruption in the import and purchase of cashews by the Cashew Corporation. Following investigation, the CBI named 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, the CBI sought prosecution sanction from the industries department under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The sanction was allegedly rejected multiple times despite HC directions, leading to the contempt plea.