Kochi, Jun 19 The Kerala High Court on Friday expressed displeasure over the non-appearance of a government official before it in a contempt case, and warned of coercive action, including the issuance of an arrest warrant, if he is not present before it on June 22.
The direction was issued by Justice A Badharudeen during proceedings in a contempt plea filed by Kollam native Kadakampally Manoj, alleging non-compliance with court directions regarding the grant of sanction to the CBI to prosecute officials of the Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation in a corruption case.
Industries Department Principal Secretary Mohammed Haneesh had challenged an earlier order of the single judge directing his appearance in the matter, and his plea was dismissed by a division bench on Monday.
On Friday, the lawyer for the state government told the court that Haneesh could not appear in person as he was engaged with the presentation of the Budget.
The court observed that even though the division bench had dismissed his appeal, Haneesh failed to appear before it.
"The reluctance on the part of the first respondent (Haneesh) to appear before this court is noted with extreme displeasure.
"However, taking into consideration the submission made by the special government pleader, there shall be a direction to the first respondent to appear before this court, in person, at 10.15 am, on June 22, 2026, without fail," it said.
Justice Badharudeen further said that failure to do so would result in the court being "forced to initiate coercive steps by issuing a warrant of arrest to secure his presence and to proceed with the contempt, in accordance with law".
The graft case dates back to 2015, when the CBI registered a case into alleged corruption in the KSCDC following directions from the High Court.
After completing its probe, the agency sought sanction from the state government to prosecute the accused, including former KSCDC chairman R Chandrasekharan.
Subsequently, Manoj approached the court seeking implementation of directions to grant prosecution sanction to the CBI.
Following repeated refusals to grant a sanction, the single bench initiated contempt proceedings and directed the personal appearance of the principal secretary.
