Thiruvananthapuram: The CBI has decided to continue its arguments in the High Court in the Life Mission case and proceed with the investigation as the court has not completely shut the door on its involvement. The CBI team is consulting legal experts on how to proceed with the investigations.

The CBI is taking confidence from the fact that the court has not quashed the FIR. The agency sees this as an indication that the court did not accept the argument against it for starting the investigations in the case without the permission of the state government.

The agency believes there is no setback to the inquiry as the court has ruled that the case against Unitac and its owner Santosh Eapen under Section 3 (2) of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) will stay.

During the first two days of his interrogation, the company’s managing director Santosh Eapen provided sufficient information for the CBI to proceed with the investigation against Unitac in any manner it deems fit.

In his statements, Eapen said that he was instructed to meet M Sivasankar, the former principal secretary to the chief minister, after he paid commissions to Swapna Suresh, Sandeep Nair and Khalid, a former employee of the UAE consulate, to get the contract for the construction of the housing complex under the Life Mission in Wadakkanchery in Thrissur district.

The company got the contract after his meeting with Sivasankar, Eapen told the CBI.

The court has not put any restrictions on how the CBI should proceed with its investigations on the basis of these statements. The CBI has also not been prevented from questioning anyone as per the FIR that has now been approved by the court itself.

During the hearings, Life Mission had submitted the complaint does not even make out a case prima facie the registration of the case "in hasty manner" indicated a deliberate attempt to malign the state government.

The alleged FCRA violation had snowballed into a major political issue with opposition parties alleging that Swapna Suresh, a key accused in the gold smuggling case, had admitted before an NIA court that she had received Rs one crore as commission from the project.

Life Mission, a programme to provide secure and adequate housing to all landless and homeless families, was launched by the LDF government on September 28, 2016.

The project contemplates construction of housing units by utilising government funds, sponsorships, and funds of local self-government institutions.

In early 2017, the Emirates Red Crescent, the volunteer humanitarian organisation, affiliated to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, expressed willingness to provide about Rs 20 crore financial assistance for the construction of homes for the victims of the Kerala floods and also a health centre.

A total of 2.17 acres of land belonging to Wadakkanchery Municipality was made available for construction of the dwelling units and the health centre.

Thereafter, construction agreements were executed between the UAE consul general, Unitac Builders and Developers and Sane Ventures on July 31 2019 for 140 apartments of 500 sq ft each, and a mother and children health care centre with a total area of 4,000 sq ft.