The issue of Kerala’s DGP (Prisons) S Sreejith (IPS:1996:KL)’s allegedly illegal foreign visit continues to rage. The Kerala High Court has now directed the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) and the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to produce documents connected to the allegations against Sreejith.
A single bench of Justice A. Badharudeen was considering a petition filed by Dipin Edavana, an Assistant Motor Vehicles Inspector from Malappuram, challenging the clean chit given to the IPS officer by the state vigilance department in his complaint alleging that the IPS officer had visited Dubai without official permission and attended the inauguration of a private enterprise there while wearing his police uniform.
The petitioner had earlier approached the HC seeking a vigilance inquiry against the IPS officer, following which the court directed the Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Vigilance) Minhaj Alam (IAS:1996:KL) to decide the matter. The ACS called for a joint hearing of the complainant and Sreejith, but the complainant declined to attend a joint hearing along with Sreejith, against whom allegations had been made.
The court then directed the ACS to decide the matter after personally hearing the complainant in the absence of Sreejith. But the directive was not complied with within the time frame fixed by the court.
It resulted in the court directing the ACS to personally appear before it on August 20. However, while appearing before the bench on Thursday, the ACS informed the court that no vigilance inquiry was warranted into the complaint as of now.
After this, the petitioner approached the court challenging the order that gave Sreejith a clean chit, claiming that it was issued without a proper inquiry.
The court has thus called for records mentioned in petitioner’s representation before the VACB, also forwarded to the ACS, to be submitted in a sealed cover. The court directed the authorities concerned to file their statements or objections in the meantime.
Petitioner Edavana also alleged that Sreejith harassed him and committed irregularities in printing driving licences and purchasing AI cameras during his term as Transport Commissioner. Edavana had also raised concerns about irregularities in the appointment of Havildars in the police force while Sreejith served in the police department.
The ACS’s report found that Sreejith had availed casual leave to travel to Abu Dhabi and had received permission from the State Police Chief. According to the report, the pictures and available records did not substantiate the claim that Sreejith wore his police uniform during the inauguration programme.
The ACS opined that the Transport Secretary might conduct an internal inquiry into the allegations raised during Sreejith’s tenure as the Transport Commissioner. It noted the State Police Chief’s letter stating that there were no irregularities in the appointment of Havildars as alleged.
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