The Kerala High Court on Thursday orally observed that the investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged irregularities in the LIFE Mission housing project in Wadakancherry, Thrissur, could not be stopped.
Justice V.G. Arun made the observation during the hearing on a petition filed by LIFE Mission Chief Executive Officer (CEO) U.V. Jose seeking to quash the First Information Report (FIR) registered by the CBI at a magistrate court here in connection with the alleged irregularities in the project.
Observing that there were certain grey areas in the issue, the judge said “Let the investigation go on”. The court also asked the CEO to cooperate with the probe.
The court also declined orally a plea by Senior Supreme Court lawyer K.V. Viswanathan, counsel for the CEO, to restrain the CBI from taking any coercive measures against the CEO. The lawyer said that the agency had issued a notice summoning the CEO to produce certain documents in connection with the project. Unless a protective order was passed, the morale of all the officers would be affected.
‘Politically motivated’
The counsel for the CEO further contended that the filing of the FIR was a politically motivated move. The FIR had alleged violation of Section 3 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act. In fact, the LIFE Mission had not accepted any contribution, much less any foreign contributions. The contractual agreements for the construction of buildings under the LIFE Mission were executed between the Consular General of the United Arab Emirate (UAE) and construction companies. Neither the State government nor the LIFE Mission had any role in the selection of contractors. The role of the government was only to make available land for the project.
The construction companies that had inked agreements with the Consular General of UAE did not come under any categories of persons prohibited from receiving any foreign contributions under Section 3 of the Act, he further argued. The category of the persons included election candidates, correspondents, columnist, cartoonist, editor, owner, printer or publisher of a registered newspaper, judges, government servants, or employee of government-controlled bodies and political parties.
‘At embryonic stage’
The counsel for the CBI submitted that the investigation “is in an embryonic stage”. It had to be taken forward to find out whether the companies were acting as proxies for government officers or agency for receiving kickbacks. The CBI counsel also contended that that the petition was not maintainable as the CEO had no locus standi to file the petition. In fact, the CEO had not been named in the FIR. Nor had any officers been specifically identified by the agency.
The court adjourned to October 8 the petition for further hearing.