KOCHI: In a major development in the palmolein case, senior IAS officer Jiji Thomson on Thursday approached the Kerala High Court seeking to quash the Vigilance Special court order directing to find out the involvement of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in the palmolein deal. Jiji Thomson, Director-General of Commonwealth Games and the former Civil Supplies managing director, is the fifth accused in the case. “The Vigilance Court went wrong in suo moto directing to conduct further investigation in the case. The nature and characteristics of the order would give the shade of a fresh investigation. If the process is accepted, investigation would be an endless process,” Thomson stated in the petition. He submitted that the court ought to have appreciated the fact that the alleged offence was committed 19 years ago and during all these years he had undergone ‘untold’ mental harassment and agony due to the ‘false case’. Thomson pointed out that he has never approached any forum other than filing an application for discharge before the trial court and there is no delay attributable to the petitioner. The investigating agency conducted a full-fledged further investigation and submitted report on May 13, 2011, stating that it is not able to find any fresh material in the case. On August 8, Special Vigilance Judge P K Haneefa had directed to inquire against Chandy after rejecting the investigator’s report. Thomson contended that the Thiruvananthapuram Special Court judge has no power to order further investigation suo motu. Thomson said that he remained in the same post only due to prolonged pendency of this case while all other similarly placed officials have been promoted. He has not been given a posting as Additional secretary to Government of India or equivalent. The crime was registered by the Vigilance Department in the year 1991-1992, in connection with the allegation of irregularities in importing palmolein to Kerala. In 2001 a final report was filed against seven accused, including the then Chief Minister and the then Civil Supplies Minister. On receipt of the final report the court issued summons against all accused. The petitioner submitted that he is waiting for the trial for the past 10 years.
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