Soman @ Ayathil Soman vs State Of Kerala
2021 Latest Caselaw 16499 Ker

Citation : 2021 Latest Caselaw 16499 Ker
Judgement Date : 5 August, 2021

Kerala High Court

Soman @ Ayathil Soman vs State Of Kerala on 5 August, 2021

WP(C) No.9720/2021                         1/5

                         IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
                                         PRESENT
                     THE HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR.S.MANIKUMAR
                                            &
                         THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SHAJI P.CHALY
             Thursday, the 5th day of August 2021 / 14th Sravana, 1943
                             WP(C) NO. 9720 OF 2021(S)
   PETITIONER:

          SOMAN @ AYATHIL SOMAN, AGED 67 YEARS,
          S/O.KOCHUKRISHNAN, BHARANETHU VEEDU,
          AYATHIL P.O, KOLLAM -691 021.

   RESPONDENTS:

      1. STATE OF KERALA, REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF CASHEW
         INDUSTRY, GOVT. SECRETARIAT, TRIVANDRUM -695 001.
      2. THE DIRECTOR OF VIGILANCE & ANIT CORRUPTION BUREAU, VIKAS BHAVAN,
         LAW COLLEGE RD., OPPOSITE KSRTC DEPOT, P.O. PALAYAM,
         THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, KERALA-695 033.
      3. THE DY. SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE, VIGILANCE AND ANTI CORRUPTION
         BUREAU, KOLLAM UNIT, KOLLAM- 691 008.
      4. KERALA STATE CASHEW WORKERS CAPEX INDUSTRIAL CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY
         LTD., P.B. NO.262, CORPORATION BUILDING, KADAPPAKKADA P.O., KOLLAM
         -691 008, REPRESENTED BY ITS MANAGING DIRECTOR.
      5. MR.RAJESH, MANAGING DIRECTOR, KERALA STATE CASHEW WORKERS CAPEX
         INDUSTRIAL CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY LTD., P.B. NO.262, CORPORATION
         BUILDING, KADAPPAKKADA P.O., KOLLAM- 691 008.
      6. S. ANIL KUMAR, ADDITIONAL SECRETARY, FINANCE DEPARTMENT, GOVERNMENT
         OF KERALA, GOVT. SECRETARIAT, TRIVANDRUM- 695 001.

        Writ petition (civil) praying inter alia that in the circumstances
   stated in the affidavit filed along with the WP(C) the High Court be
   pleased to stay the operation of Exhibit P10 directing to maintain status
   quo ante, pending disposal of the WP.

        This petition coming on for orders upon perusing the petition and
   the affidavit filed in support of WP(C) and upon hearing the arguments of
   SRI.M.R. SUDHEENDRAN, Advocate for the petitioner, SENIOR GOVERNMENT
   PLEADER for R1 to R3, SRI.M.K.CHANDRA MOHANDAS, Advocate for R4 and of
   P.G.JAYASHANKAR, P.K.RESHMA (KALARICKAL), REVATHY P. MANOHARAN & S.RAJEEV,
   Advocates for R5, the court passed the following:

                                                           P.T.O.
 WP(C) No.9720/2021                 2/5

                      APPENDIX OF WP(C) 9720/2021
EXHIBIT P4           A TRUE COPY OF THE STATEMENT DATED 12/03/2018 FILED BY
                     THE VIGILANCE IN WP(C) NO.7253/2018.
EXHIBIT P7           A TRUE COPY OF THE GO (RT) NO.1101/2020/ID DATED
                     23/12/2020 ISSUED BY THE JOINT SECRETARY, GOVERNMENT OF
                     KERALA.
EXHIBIT P10          A TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER GO(RT) NO.136/2021/ID DATED
                     02/02/2021 ISSUED BY THE 3RD RESPONDENT.
 WP(C) No.9720/2021                              3/5




                          S. MANIKUMAR, CJ& SHAJI P. CHALY, J

                       -------------------------------------------------------
                                    W.P.(C) No.9720 of 2021
                      ---------------------------------------------------------
                            Dated this the 5th day of August, 2021

                                              ORDER

S. Manikumar, CJ

Generally, persons aggrieved can file writ petitions and that the same

would be heard by learned Single Judges.

2. But if there is a public interest, writ petition has to be heard by a

Division Bench. In the case at hand,Mr.Sudheerndran, learned counsel for

petitioner, submitted that earlier Mr. Soman @ Ayathil Soman along with

two others has filed W.P.(C) No.7253/2018 for a mandamus directing the

Director, Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Thiruvananthapuram, -

respondent No.2 therein to consider Exhibit P4 complaint filed within a time

frame. Writ court after considering the same, passed a judgment dated 2 nd

July, 2018 accepting the stand of the official respondents therein. Short

judgment dated 2nd July, 2018 in W.P.(C) No.7253/2018 is re-produced:

 WP(C) No.9720/2021                                4/5






                 "                           JUDGMENT

The second prayer in this Writ Petition is to issue a direction commanding the 2nd respondent to consider Ext P4 complaint within a time frame.

2. Heard When this matter has been taken up for hearing, the learned Special Public Prosecutor has submitted that the 2nd respondent had already issued a direction to conduct vigilance enquiry in respect of the matters alleged in Ext. P4. complaint. In view of the above submission, no further direction is required in this Writ Petition at this stage. Therefore, I am inclined to close this Writ Petition. However, this order will not stand in the way of the petitioner in approaching this Court again, if he is aggrieved by the enquiry report."

3. Instant Public Interest writ petition is filed for a writ of certiorari to

quash Exhibits P7 and P10. That apart, petitioner has also sought for a

mandamus directing the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Vigilance and Anti

Corruption Bureau, Kollam - 3 rd respondent, to finalise the investigation

against Mr.Rajesh, Managing Director, Kerala State Cashew Workers CAPEX

Industrial Co-operative Society Ltd., Kollam - respondent No.5 and submit a

final report, without any further delay.

WP(C) No.9720/2021 5/5

4. From the material on record, it could be deduced that, earlier the

petitioner, along with two others, have filed W.P.(C) No.7253/2018 being

personally aggrieved, formally and now the very same petitioner has filed

the instant public interest writ petition.