Judge recuses himself from palmolein case

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Precipitating an unprecedented crisis for Kerala’s four-month-old Oommen Chandy government, a designated Vigilance Court judge who had ordered further probe against the chief minister in connection with the sensational palmolein import scam case rescued himself from the matter on Saturday.
Taking up the matter soon after the court assembled on Saturday, Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge P K Haneefa said he was pained by the allegations being leveled against him in the media ever since he had issued the order on August 8 directing further probe in the case.Expressing his inability to continue with the matter, the judge said he would request the high court to transfer it to some other court.
The judge’s action comes at the end of a nearly two weeks of intense politicking which saw the state government’s chief whip P C George shoot off a complaint against him to president Pratibha Patil. George was upset with the judge for ordering a fresh inquiry into the role of Chandy in the case, which had earlier proved to be the nemesis for former Chief Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas.
The court had rejected a Vigilance inquiry report that gave Chandy, who was finance minister when the import happened, a clean chit in the matter. Citing the statement of a witness, the court even said that Chandy as finance minister “did not take any step for preventing the import of the palmolein, even after the allegation of corruption in the import was reported in newspapers on December 28 and 29, 1991.”
Though Chandy refused to go in appeal, George was in no mood to relent. Taking objection to the order, George in his complaint claimed that the judge seemed determined to make Chandy an accused in the case. Later taking part in a TV show, George allegedly repeated his charges against judge Haneefa and even went on to suggest external influences.
The chief minister sought to steer clear of the ensuing debate, which saw the government and opposition attacking each other with the judge caught in the middle. Reacting to the news of the judge rescuing himself, Chandy said the parties to the case had not expressed any distrust in him.
Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan accused Chandy of using others to intimidate the judiciary. Referring to George's complaint to the president against the judge, VS said the government had done nothing to question or correct the actions of the senior leader. “The judiciary is being intimidated by this government. The chief whip was used to hit out at the judge,” VS said.
Though the case was originally listed for hearing on November 10, the Vigilance Court advanced it to Saturday prompting rumours that the judge was planning to withdraw from the hearing.
Interestingly, the development also comes just two day after a judge of the high court declined to hear an appeal filed by yet another accused in the case Jiji Thomson challenging the August 8 order of the Vigilance Court. Justice N K Balakrishnan instead directed that the petition be placed before the Chief Justice.