VR Jayaraj | Thiruvananthapuram
In yet another embarrassment to the Congress-led UDF coalition in Kerala, a court in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday ordered a Vigilance probe against former State Minister and chairman of minor front partner Kerala Congress (Jacob) TM Jacob.
The Vigilance Court, Thiruvananthapuram ordered the probe against Jacob on the basis of a petition with regard to the alleged irregularities in the Theerapatham drinking water distribution scheme for the capital city, implemented in 2005 when Jacob was water resources minister in the then UDF Cabinet headed by Oommen Chandy, presently Opposition leader.
The court order has become yet another blow to the credibility of the Congress-led coalition. The Supreme Court had in February sent former minister and Congress ally R Balakrishna Pillai to prison for corruption. Oommen Chandy himself is facing the prospect of being named as an accused in the sensational palmolein import case.
The CPI(M)-led ruling LDF in the State had made the allegations of corruption against the Congress and its allies in Kerala as well as in the Centre the main plank of its campaign for the April 13 election to the 13th State Assembly. The Congress itself has reportedly evaluated that such charges could affect its poll prospects in a big way.
The allegation over the Theerapatham scheme is that it had caused huge losses to the Exchequer as pipes of inferior quality were used. It is alleged that the project had balked several times as the pipes, which the Tamil Nadu Government had refused to purchase due to their sub-standard quality, had broken at 56 points during the implementation of the project.
The Theerapatham water supply scheme was envisaged in 2002 for distributing drinking water to the people residing in the low-lying areas of Thiruvananthapuram city. Work on the project had to be abandoned after spending Rs 8.71 crore due to continuous interruptions caused by pipe-bursts. It is also said that huge amounts were also spent on repairs.
Petitioner PK Raju of Thiruvananthapuram said that there was corruption behind the decision of the then government to use pipes of inferior quality which the Tamil Nadu Government had refused to purchase after detailed studies. Vigilance judge S Jagadeesh ordered registration of case against Jacob in the case in which only government officials were named as accused so far.
However, Jacob said that he had no connection with the Theerapatham project, which was implemented by the local administration body, according to him. The officials in the Water Resources Department had provided only technical advice for the project and he was not minister when the project was approved, Jacob claimed.
Jacob is already facing corruption allegations with regard to the construction of the Kuryarkutty-Karappara irrigation project in Palakkad district and the Supreme Court has ordered thorough examination of documents related to it. He was the UDF candidate in Piravam constituency in the April 13 Assembly election.
In yet another embarrassment to the Congress-led UDF coalition in Kerala, a court in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday ordered a Vigilance probe against former State Minister and chairman of minor front partner Kerala Congress (Jacob) TM Jacob.
The Vigilance Court, Thiruvananthapuram ordered the probe against Jacob on the basis of a petition with regard to the alleged irregularities in the Theerapatham drinking water distribution scheme for the capital city, implemented in 2005 when Jacob was water resources minister in the then UDF Cabinet headed by Oommen Chandy, presently Opposition leader.
The court order has become yet another blow to the credibility of the Congress-led coalition. The Supreme Court had in February sent former minister and Congress ally R Balakrishna Pillai to prison for corruption. Oommen Chandy himself is facing the prospect of being named as an accused in the sensational palmolein import case.
The CPI(M)-led ruling LDF in the State had made the allegations of corruption against the Congress and its allies in Kerala as well as in the Centre the main plank of its campaign for the April 13 election to the 13th State Assembly. The Congress itself has reportedly evaluated that such charges could affect its poll prospects in a big way.
The allegation over the Theerapatham scheme is that it had caused huge losses to the Exchequer as pipes of inferior quality were used. It is alleged that the project had balked several times as the pipes, which the Tamil Nadu Government had refused to purchase due to their sub-standard quality, had broken at 56 points during the implementation of the project.
The Theerapatham water supply scheme was envisaged in 2002 for distributing drinking water to the people residing in the low-lying areas of Thiruvananthapuram city. Work on the project had to be abandoned after spending Rs 8.71 crore due to continuous interruptions caused by pipe-bursts. It is also said that huge amounts were also spent on repairs.
Petitioner PK Raju of Thiruvananthapuram said that there was corruption behind the decision of the then government to use pipes of inferior quality which the Tamil Nadu Government had refused to purchase after detailed studies. Vigilance judge S Jagadeesh ordered registration of case against Jacob in the case in which only government officials were named as accused so far.
However, Jacob said that he had no connection with the Theerapatham project, which was implemented by the local administration body, according to him. The officials in the Water Resources Department had provided only technical advice for the project and he was not minister when the project was approved, Jacob claimed.
Jacob is already facing corruption allegations with regard to the construction of the Kuryarkutty-Karappara irrigation project in Palakkad district and the Supreme Court has ordered thorough examination of documents related to it. He was the UDF candidate in Piravam constituency in the April 13 Assembly election.
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