Naveen Babu met Collector in chamber, admitted to a 'mistake', reveals court order

Kannur Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Naveen Babu met the District Collector in his chamber and told him that he committed a 'mistake' after the farewell meeting in which he was snubbed by then district panchayat president P P Divya, according to the statement of the Collector which is shown in the order issued by Thalassery sessions judge K T Nisar Ahammed, dismissing the anticipatory bail plea of Divya.

It is learnt that Collector Arun Vijayan did not press Naveen Babu to tell him what the mistake was. However, the Collector did not respond to Onmanorama's queries on the matter. 

The court's order notes that while Naveen Babu told the Collector that he made a mistake, it cannot be taken as an admission of receiving bribe or other form of corruption. "Even otherwise, if the deceased is a person who has no integrity and had received bribe, the accused on getting the information ought to have set the law in motion by approaching  appropriate law enforcing authority," the order noted. 

The Collector, who gave his statement to the Joint Land Revenue Commissioner as part of a departmental probe and to the police team, has not disclosed so far whether Naveen Babu had met him in his chamber after Divya made incriminating statements against him during the farewell meeting and what transpired in his chamber.

The court order produces a part of the Collector's statement to drive home the point that Divya could have approached the Vigilance department or police. "Instead, she opted to humiliate and insult the deceased in the presence of his superior and subordinates. She got her speech in the function recorded by local television channel and circulated the video even in Pathanamthitta, the native place of the deceased (Naveen Babu). This insult and humiliation drove the deceased to take the extreme step," the order says. 

The statement of the Collector produced in the court order also shows that he had attended a function with P P Divya in the morning and they had an informal discussion. She told the Collector that she had information that a file in ADM's section getting purposefully delayed related to a petrol bunk NoC. The Collector asked if she had a formal written complaint from the applicant or any evidence to support the claims. Divya responded that she had no proof but would check with the complainant. The Collector advised her that without being personally sure of the allegation and without proper evidence taking formal action on a mere hearsay allegation would not be feasible. Later, at 3.13 pm the same day, she called the Collector and told him that she would come to the collectorate, even if it was late. The Collector told her that if it was regarding the allegation she had raised in the morning, it was probably not the appropriate time. The Collector strongly dissuaded her as it would be embarrassing and pointless to discuss a hearsay matter over and over again since the ADM had been transferred to Pathanamthitta.

With the statement of the Collector pointing at ADM admitting to a mistake, the Special Investigation team will have to unravel the reasons that led to Naveen Babu's death. The Pathanamthitta native died by suicide in his official residence on October 15.