The Kerala High Court on Thursday imposed a cost of ₹25,000 on Johnson Padamadan, president, Kerala Bus Transport Association, for filing a frivolous writ petition against Smitha Jose C., Motor Vehicle Inspector, Regional Transport Office, Kakkanad.
Justice V.G. Arun, while directing the petitioner to pay ₹25,000 to the MVI, observed that the writ petition had been filed with the sole objective of defaming and demoralising the official.
The writ petition sought a directive to the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to register a case and conduct a detailed investigation into the inspection of vehicles by the official near the CISF check post on Willingdon Island on December 08, 2014 and the consequent loss of cash and receipt books. In a departmental action, ₹21,400 was recovered from her salary.
The petitioner alleged that superior officers had acted hand-in-glove with her by imposing only a minor penalty for the serious offence of defalcation of public funds.
The MVI contended that the petition was nothing but witch-hunting for having carried out her duties honestly and without succumbing to the dictates of the petitioner and his association.
The court observed that the petitioner had miserably failed to substantiate his contention that the MVI could not have conducted checking after duty hours. On the other hand, the MVI had succeeded in establishing that an Assistant Motor Vehicle Inspector being a full-time officer, no particular time for checking of vehicles was prescribed.
