Kerala High Court dismisses opposition leader VD Satheesan's PIL alleging corruption in K-FON project

The Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed the public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by opposition leader and Congress MLA VD Satheesan alleging corruption in the State government's Kerala Fibre Optic Network (K-FON) project and seeking a CBI probe into the same [VD Satheesan MLA v. The State of Kerala & Ors.]..A Division Bench of Justices AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and Syam Kumar VM opined that at this stage, there are no grounds warranting an interference from the Court into the K-FON project. "We see no reason to interfere with the decisions taken by the respondents that are impugned in this writ petition or to interdict the respondents from implementing the project. We also do not see it necessary to entrust an investigation into the allegations raised by the petitioner to the CBI at this stage...the report of the CAG (Comptroller & Auditor General) , as and when made available, can certainly be scrutinized by the Legislature/PAC (Public Accounts Committee) and appropriate action taken based on their comments thereon," the Court stated in its order. .K-FON is a public-funded initiative of the Pinarayi Vijayan-headed left government. Launched in 2021, it aims to provide high-speed internet connectivity to all citizens throughout the State. This would be done through a new optic fibre pathway running parallel to the electric power network of the Kerala State Electricity Board Ltd. (KSEB).In his PIL, Satheesan alleged that the project and all contracts arising from it were divided among proxies of the people controlling the government.According to the MLA, all the tenders involved in the project were awarded to a single beneficiary company which is closely connected with persons in power. He further alleged that the said company has allegedly re-routed the work and financial benefits involved to another company which is associated with the same person in power."It is clear that a project which would have been a milestone for the digital accessibility in the State has been handed over to incompetent persons, who have ruined it for making profit at the expense of the common man," the PIL said.It also stated that the pattern of corruption is similar to that involved in the State government's Safe Kerala project involving the installation of AI (artificial intelligence) traffic cameras. Satheesan had moved a different PIL in this regard last year.On these, among other grounds, Satheesan had sought orders from the Court to the CBI to initiate an enquiry into the K-FON project.He had also sought an order for quashing the Government Order issued by the Electronics and IT department of the State which sanctioned the selection of the implementation agency of K-Fon, M/s Bel Consortium..Satheesan was represented by Senior Advocate George Poonthottam and advocates Nisha George, AL Navaneeth Krishnan, J Vishnu, Kavya Varma MM, Anshin KK, and Sidharth R Wariyar. Advocate General of Kerala and Senior Advocate K Gopalakrishna Kurup and Senior Government Pleader V Manu appeared for the State authorities. Advocate KA Abdul appeared for Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Ltd.Advocates Antony Mukkath and Regi Mathew appeared for Kerala State Electricity Board Ltd..[Read Judgment]