Kerala LIFE Mission: Kerala High Court stays investigation against LIFE Mission, for now

Granting interim relief to the Kerala Government's LIFE Mission Executive UV Jose, the Kerala High Court through Justice VG Arun has stayed all further proceedings against LIFE Mission for a period of two months..Justice Arun has admitted two petitions in the matter against the CBI probe in the case. .The investigation is slated to continue. However, the Judge has recorded that the materials on record did not justify implicating the LIFE Mission for violations of the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA)..During the hearing last week, LIFE Mission CEO UV Jose through Senior Counsel KV Vishwanathan had argued that the investigations launched against LIFE Mission were unfounded, politically-motivated, and damaging to the morale of public servants..[LIFE Mission case] Much ado about nothing, says petitioner challenging CBI probe; "Fraud", says CBI as Kerala HC reserves orders.The LIFE Mission Project is an initiative by the Kerala Government to provide shelter and housing to the homeless, particularly those whose homes were ravaged by the floods of 2018. Under the project, the government gives government land to third parties for the construction of homes..Based on a complaint by Congress MLA Anil Akkara alleging financial irregularities in the project-based in his constituency, Wadakkanchery, the CBI had filed an FIR citing FCRA violations..In the FIR lodged, the CBI alleges that the State Government obtained funds from the Red Crescent, United Arab Emirates, which were transferred to Unitac Builders and Sane Constructions, in violation of FCRA norms. .Kerala HC hears plea against CBI inquiry into Kerala Government's LIFE Mission; No stay on investigation against Mission's CEO .The government maintains that it merely provided land for construction, while the funding and other details were worked out by the contractors themselves..Unitac submitted in Court that it entered into an independent agreement with Dubai-based Red Crescent for the project..Asserting that the project was fraudulent, the CBI has emphatically stated that Unitac and Sane did not become a part of the LIFE Mission project by way of a legitimate tender process..The CBI has accused Unitac of paying various persons, including gold smuggling accused Swapna Suresh to bag the project. In the previous hearing, the Counsel for the CBI Sasthamangalam Ajithkumar averred that Suresh had taken a commission for her role in obtaining the project for Unitac..In light of the FIR, Jose approached the High Court seeking a quash on the investigations launched against LIFE Mission..After Jose' plea was moved in the High Court, Santhosh Eappen, MD of Unitac Builders also approached the Court praying for the investigations against him to be stayed. .Eappen had argued that funds received by him from the Red Crescent for the construction of homes as part of LIFE Mission were exempted from the ambit of the FCRA. He was only an agent, he claimed, tasked with construction. 'Agents' were excluded from the scanner of FCRA norms, his Counsel Abhilash KN had argued..This argument was rejected, considering the separate agreement between Red Crescent and Unitac. Entrusting construction work upon a builder does not confer upon him the status of an agent, it was held. Therefore, the Court declined to quash the investigation against Eappen.