Fresh trouble has emerged for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar after the Kerala government ordered a new Vigilance inquiry into a nearly 20-year-old case linked to his tenure as Public Works Department secretary. The probe follows a complaint over alleged irregularities in the Kerala State Transport Project and the 2006 death of Malaysian engineer Lee See Been in Kuala Lumpur.
Reports from 2006 said Lee’s purported suicide note referred to Kumar and contained allegations involving PWD officials. Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala has directed the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to examine the case after Congress leader Malayinkeezhu Venugopal submitted a petition seeking a fresh investigation. The complaint concerns alleged irregularities linked to public works contracts during Kumar’s tenure as PWD secretary.
The contract was worth around Rs 216 crore and only part of the payment had been cleared at the time, according to him. Former Kerala finance minister Thomas Isaac has also spoken about the old case in recent weeks. He has also made allegations concerning payment disputes connected with the project. The latest government order centres on the handling of the original Vigilance proceedings. The Kerala inquiry comes at a sensitive time for Gyanesh Kumar, who is serving as Chief Election Commissioner. Opposition parties have been attacking the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and have demanded his resignation. There has been no finding of wrongdoing against Kumar in the reopened case.
The state Home Department has asked for the relevant records so officials can determine whether the earlier inquiry was affected by external intervention. The government will also examine the circumstances in which the earlier investigation slowed down and whether key allegations were properly pursued at the time. The state government has, for now, ordered officials to retrieve the old records, examine the complaint and assess the claim that the earlier probe was disrupted.
