Kochi, Sep 3 The Kerala High Court on Thursday stayed a single bench order directing the state government to grant prosecution sanction to the CBI against accused persons in a corruption case involving officials of the KSCDC.
A division bench comprising Justices K Natarajan and Johnson John stayed the order passed by Justice A Badharudeen directing the Keralam government to grant sanction to the CBI to prosecute the accused.
Justice Badharudeen, while considering a contempt petition filed by Kollam native Kadakampally Manoj, had directed the Keralam government to grant prosecution sanction to the CBI to prosecute the Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation (KSCDC) officials in the corruption case.
The case dates back to 2015, when the CBI registered a case into alleged irregularities in the KSCDC following directions from the High Court.
After completing its investigation, the agency sought sanction from the state government to prosecute the accused, which was not granted.
Subsequently, Manoj approached the court seeking implementation of its directions to grant prosecution sanction to the CBI.
During the hearing of the writ appeals, counsel for accused R Chandrasekharan and K A Ratheesh submitted that the single judge had travelled beyond the scope and jurisdiction of the Contempt of Courts Act by passing supplemental orders, contrary to principles laid down by the Supreme Court.
They also submitted that the single bench had set aside the state government's rejection of prosecution sanction and compelled the government to pass an order granting sanction.
After hearing the counsel, the division bench observed that the matter required detailed consideration on the legal issue of whether the single judge had exceeded the jurisdiction vested in a contempt court and passed an order beyond the scope of the contempt proceedings.
Admitting the writ appeals, the court stayed the orders passed by the single bench.
The court posted the matter for final hearing on September 24.
