V.K.EBRAHIM KUNJU Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Palarivattom flyover, which reduced the traffic problem in Cochin city to some extent, is now unpopular because of the alleged corruption in its construction. The name Palarivattom has evolved from the word 'Pagalnarivattom'. 'Pagalnarivattom' means a place where jackal roams even in the day time. Now Keralites suspect that it is not jackals but corrupt people wandering through this area. The vigilance must find out the truth by conducting a fair and impartial investigation and restore the name of Palarivattom connected with that of jackals instead of corrupt people. Jackals are better than corrupt people.

(2.) The petitioner is a Member of the Legislative assembly (MLA) and a former minister in Kerala. He is now implicated as the 5th accused in V.C.No.1/2019, VACB, Ernakulam. He is now in custody in connection with the above case from 18.11.2020. This bail application filed by him under Section 439 of the Criminal Procedure Code was heard through Video Conference.

(3.) The above case is registered based on an enquiry conducted by the Vigilance Department of the State. Based on the letter No.141/M(PWD&R)/2019 dated 3.5.2019 of the Hon'ble Minister of PWD and Registration, the Government of Kerala ordered a vigilance enquiry vide letter No.156/E(2)/2019/Vig. dated 6.5.2019 regarding the irregularities committed in constructing the Palarivattom Fly Over, which is situated at NH66 in Ernaklam District. The Director, VACB, Thiruvananthapuram forwarded the same vide letter No.C-(VE 01/2019/ CRE)14247/ 2019 dated 7.5.2019 to the Superintendent of Police VACB, Central Range, Ernakulam for conducting the Vigilance Enquiry. As per order No.VE01/2019/CRE dated 7.5.2019 of Superintendent of Police, VACB, CRE; the enquiry was entrusted to the Deputy Superintendent of Police VACB, Ernakulam unit. The enquiry revealed that the Government of Kerala directed the Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB) to provide financial assistance for implementing the Palarivattom Fly Over at NH66 in Ernakulam District during the period from 2013 to 2017. The work was entrusted to the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala Ltd (RBDCK) under SPEEID Kerala Project of PWD. M/s.Kerala Industrial and Technical Consultancy Organization Ltd (KITCO) was appointed as the project's design and supervision consultant. The technical sanction for the work was issued for an amount of Rs.47.70 Crores. The work was awarded to M/S. RDS Project Ltd, on Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode. The design and drawing were prepared by M/s.Nagesh Consultant, Bangalore on behalf of the contractor, and the work was executed as per the drawings and design approved by the consultant M/s.KITCO Ltd. After the flyover's opening, within a few weeks, damages like potholes are seen. Now the bridge is closed, and the rectification work is going on. The hairline cracks were found on the girders and piers during the inspection. It may be due to several reasons such as improper structure design, lack of quality of the concrete, and lack of proper supervision of the work. According to the vigilance, all the agencies involved in implementing the flyover's work are responsible for its distress. As part of the vigilance enquiry, documents were perused, a site inspection was conducted, and a lab report was obtained. From these, it was revealed that the Palarivattom Flyover's work is a substandard one and thereby caused financial loss to the public exchequer. As financial loss sustained to the Government exchequer was due to the substandard work executed, the vigilance concluded that accused persons ie, A1 Shri.Sumeet Goyal, M.D, RDS Project Ltd. (Contractor), A2 M/s.Nagesh Consultancy, Bangalore (Designer), A3 officials of KITCO (consultant), A4 officials of RBDCK (implementing agency), and unknown others are responsible for it. From the enquiry conducted, it is revealed that A1 to A5 conspired together, and as a result of this conspiracy A3 and A4 abused their official position as public servants and by corrupt or illegal means acted without any public interest thereby caused to obtain pecuniary advantage to A1. Hence, the vigilance concluded that there is every reason to believe that all the accused persons gained an undue pecuniary advantage. Accordingly, V.C 1/2019 was registered by the VACB Unit, Ernakulam, on 3.6.2019.