Kochi: Former Kerala Public Works Department (PWD) Minister V K Ebrahim Kunju has been under the scrutiny of the anti-graft watchdog over his role in the Palarivattom flyover scam. Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan has now given nod to the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to prosecute the IUML politician as it has been alleged that he had ensured that an advance amount be paid to the contractor for the flyover work violating the norms.
In November, 2019, the Kerala High Court had given permission to the Vigilance to probe into the former minister's role in the alleged irregularities in the construction of the flyover which the government wants to demolish over its structural weakness.
Former PWD secretary T O Sooraj, who has been arrested over the scam, had also raised allegations against the ex-minister.
Ebrahim Kunju is under the scanner for reportedly allotting funds to the bridge builder way above the permissible limit. The Vigilance team had told the High Court that his role in the scam has to be further probed as he had issued the government order to give advance funds for the flyover construction. The Vigilance is also of the view that Ebrahim Kunju could not shy away from the responsibility and that a probe had to be held on to the alleged conspiracy. “The minister who ordered the advance payment of the money is equally responsible under the anti-corruption laws," Vigilance had stated earlier in its affidavit in the court.
"Though there were no provisions in the agreement, an amount of Rs 8.25 crore was paid as advance to the company with a meagre interest of seven per cent. This resulted in a yearly loss of Rs 57 lakh to the State government," Vigilance stated.
From the beginning, Ebrahim Kunju has taken the stand that he had no direct role in the construction of the flyover and the controversy surrounding it, and, as a minister, he never intervened directly in the matter.
"As a minister, my only responsibility was to provide administrative sanction for the construction of the flyover. I had no role in the construction work and it was the responsibility of officials," Ebrahim Kunju had said, adding, "it was not the duty of the minister to check how much cement and iron bars are used for construction. If the officials do not carry out their duties, it is their fault."
Implicating the former minister Sooraj had earlier stated the order to release the advance amount without interest to RDS Projects was issued by the then PWD minister after Mohammed Hanish, the MD of the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala (RBDCK), had made a recommendation in this regard.
The Vigilance Department was in possession of files related to the funds transfer signed by Ebrahim Kunju.
The flyover in the heart of Kochi city was opened to public in 2016. However, after cracks were detected on the pillars and various agencies pointed out the inadequacies in the construction, it was closed for traffic on May 1, 2019.
A probe was subsequently launched to look into the likely irregularities that led to the faulty construction. The probe was also extended to examine the role of certain political leaders in the scam.
T O Sooraj, Sumit Goel, MD of RDS Projects Ltd which constructed the flyover, and M T Thankachan, former additional general manager of RBDCK were arrested earlier in connection with the scam and granted bail with strict conditions last year.