[Palarivattom flyover graft] Are Ministers rubber stamps? Kerala High Court to former PWD Minister Ebrahim Kunju

The Kerala High Court today reserved orders on the bail application moved by former Kerala Public Works Department (PWD) Minister VK Ebrahim Kunju following his arrest on allegations of corruption during the controversial Palarivattom flyover project. (VK Ebrahim Kunju v. State of Kerala).Ebrahim Kunju's counsel, Senior Advocate B Raman Pillai, asserted before Justice PV Kunhikrishnan today that the Minister had no role in any graft during the project, since he was actively involved in various other programmes as a Minister. .All the necessary documents were vetted by secretaries, after which the Minister affixed his signature to them, it was submitted. There were no discrepancies pointed out to him at any stage, Senior Advocate Raman Pillai averred. .“Officers are sitting in office throughout the day, minister has various programmes, they will give the files, he will see and put his signature”, Raman Pillai submitted. .At this juncture, Justice Kunhikrishnan asked, “You are saying that Minister is just like a rubber stamp?”.Explaining that the Minister was not in any way connected with day-to-day affairs, or with the award of tender, the Senior Counsel urged that the Minister only acted in good faith with all bona fides..“It (the documents) had been processed by all officers, from section officer to secretary”, the lawyer said..The judge humorously declared, “Lesson is, nowadays, you should not believe any bureaucrats.” (sic).Relapsing into Malayalam the senior counsel said “Discrepancy is to be pointed out … Athinu njan jailil poyi kidakunnath valiya kashtamaanu!” ('quite unfortunate that I have to languish in prison simply because discrepancies were not pointed out').He relied on documents to show that an advance was paid because the then Chief Minister had wanted the project to be completed within 18 months instead of the contracted time of 2 years. For this, the project contractor required an additional sum to be released to finance the work, the counsel stated..Placing on record that an independent medical board had found the Minister to have been suffering from serious ailments, the counsel asked the Court to allow bail to the former Minister..The Court pointed out that the Minister was already in hospital and he could continue there under police custody. Allowing bail to him would be dangerous, considering his influence and the possibility of tampering with evidence..The Senior Counsel submitted that the complaint against him was framed in March this year and since then there has been no allegation that he tampered with evidence..State attorney KV Sohan, appearing on behalf of the Vigilance, asserted that the Department needed to question him further on the question of bribe and the payment of advance. He conceded that while paying advance on projects was a practice for other works contracts, it was barred by law for PWD work..Agreeing that the former Minister could remain in hospital as against prison whilst investigation was going on, he urged the Court not to release the Minister on bail. .During the hearing an advocate interjected seeking to move an intervention application on behalf of the public. Describing himself as a “public spirited person”, he told the court that since he was a member of the public and that since his funds had been utilized for the flyover, he should be allowed a hearing. The lawyer urged the court to collect a sum equivalent to that lost in the construction of the flyover before the Minister was released on bail..Unimpressed, Justice Kunhikrishnan pointed out that intervention applications could not be allowed in a bail hearing but asked the intervenor to submit his petition nevertheless..After hearing Ebrahim Kunju's counsel and the State attorney, Justice Kunhikrishnan proceeded to reserve the matter for orders. The order is expected to be issued on Monday..The Palarivattom flyover, a pet project of the previous United Democratic Front (UDF) government, ran into trouble after the flyover was found to be unsafe for commute. Shortly thereafter, the project began to be investigated for graft..Investigating authorities have argued that the Palarivattom flyover contract was not handed to the lowest bidder, as was the usual practice. The payment of an advance amount for the project to the contractors has also been assailed..Last month, Ebrahim Kunju, the Minister who had been at the helm of the PWD during the project’s completion, was arrested by the Vigilance department, citing his probable involvement in corruption. The department claimed that the Minister was not cooperating with investigation, while alleging that the Minister had taken a bribe for the project.