Industries secy files plea against HC’s ‘summons’

Kochi: Industries department principal secretary A P M Muhammed Hanish has filed an appeal before high court challenging a single bench order directing his personal appearance in a contempt of court case linked to the Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation (KSCDC) graft case.A division bench comprising Justices K Natarajan and Johnson John is scheduled to consider the appeal on Thursday. Earlier, the single bench had directed Hanish to appear before it on May 22 in a contempt petition filed by Kadakampally Manoj of Kollam. Manoj alleged that Hanish had wilfully refused to grant prosecution sanction to CBI in the cashew corporation graft case despite earlier court directives.Challenging the order, Hanish contended that the single bench erred in concluding that he had prima facie committed civil contempt by disobeying the court's directions. He argued that the court had only directed the state to reconsider the CBI's request for sanction and take a fresh decision, and had not ordered that sanction be granted.The case stems from allegations of large-scale corruption in the import and purchase of cashews by KSCDC. Acting on a petition filed by Manoj, HC had earlier directed CBI to investigate the allegations. Following the probe, the agency 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, CBI sought prosecution sanction from the industries department under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The request was allegedly rejected multiple times despite HC's directions, leading to the contempt plea.