Kochi, Jul 10 An IAS officer pulled up by the Kerala High Court over the contents of a government order granting sanction to the CBI to prosecute KSCDC officials in a 2015 corruption case, on Friday tendered an unconditional apology to the court.
K Biju, Secretary in the Kerala government's Cashew Department, said in his apology that it was never his intention to "diminish or undermine" the authority of the court.
He also admitted that the language of the sanction order was inappropriate and its content were capable of giving the impression that the government was taking the action without applying its mind and only on the directions of the court.
"On reflection, I sincerely regret that phraseology of the order that was capable of being perceived as reflecting adversely on the authority of this court. I unequivocally withdraw every expression contained in the said order that could be construed as questioning the correctness, authority and judicial wisdom," his affidavit said.
"In these circumstances, I most humbly request the court to accept this unconditional apology, finding that the actions which led to this proceeding was involuntary and pardon the same," it added.
After perusing the affidavit, Justice A Badharudeen noted that the official appeared in person and tendered an unconditional apology before the court.
"Today the second respondent (Biju) appeared in person and tendered unconditional apology before this court as regards to the derogatory statements found in Annexure A9 (sanction) order, which is ex-facie contempt even as per the opinion of the Advocate General. The second respondent submitted that he would file affidavit in this regard," the court said and listed the matter for orders on July 15.
The court on Wednesday issued a contempt notice to the bureaucrat with Justice Badharudeen saying he would not spare the official concerned, as the order granting sanction to prosecute several accused, including former KSCDC chairman and senior INTUC leader R Chandrasekharan, appeared to blame the judiciary.
The court was referring to the contents of an earlier sanction order issued by the government on July 2.
The government had subsequently issued a fresh sanction order on July 6.
The court had also observed that Biju appeared to be trying to save the accused in the case "for reasons known to him".
"That is the dangerous aspect of the order. How can an IAS officer say such things? He is saying the sanction order was passed because the court said so. It was an order to be issued based on the facts, dehors the prosecution records, and on primary satisfaction on merits. It was not to be issued based on what the court said," the judge had observed.
The court said that it was not a sanction order but one intended to "target the judiciary and the system".
The observations and directions had come on a contempt petition filed by Kollam native Kadakampally Manoj, alleging non-compliance with court directions regarding the grant of sanction to the CBI to prosecute Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation officials in the graft case.
The corruption 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.
Subsequently, Manoj approached the court seeking implementation of its directions to grant prosecution sanction to the CBI.
