The issue of Kerala DGP (Prisons) S Sreejith (IPS:1996:KL)’s foreign trip took another turn after a petition was filed in the High Court challenging the clean chit given to the IPS officer by the state vigilance department in a complaint alleging that the IPS officer had visited Dubai availing casual leave and attended the inauguration of a private enterprise there while wearing his police uniform.
A bench of Justice A Badharudeen issued notices to the state government and IPS officer S Sreejith directing them to file a response to the petition.
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 High Court is scheduled to hear the petition on Aug 31.
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