Kochi: In a major setback for Congress MLA K Babu, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has submitted its chargesheet against him in the 2016 disproportionate assets case before the PMLA court in Kochi on Wednesday. With this, the Tripunithura MLA will now have to face trial.

In the chargesheet, the ED accused Babu of amassing disproportionate wealth worth ₹25.82 lakh. In 2020, the central agency initiated a probe against the Congress legislator, nearly two years after the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau submitted its chargesheet in the case. During the investigation, vigilance found that 45% of Babu’s wealth was illegally amassed.

In 2024, the ED provisionally attached properties worth ₹25.82 lakh owned by the Congress leader. The immovable property was attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) provisions, 2002 after the ED confirmed the allegations against Babu.

According to the ED, Babu, who was the Minister for Excise, Fisheries, and Ports in the Oommen Chandy-led Cabinet from 2011 to 2016, amassed disproportionate assets during the period from July 2007 to May 2016.

“K Babu, being a public servant during the period from July 1, 2007, to May 31, 2016, acquired assets worth ₹25.82 lakh, which were disproportionate to his known sources of income and thereby committed an offence under Section 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, punishable under Section 13(2) of the same Act,” the ED stated in a 2024 press release.

The central agency initiated an investigation against Babu and a few others based on an FIR registered by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau's special cell in Ernakulam. The FIR was registered on August 31, 2016, and the final report was submitted on March 23, 2018.