Kerala CM Chandy gets clean chit in palm oil case

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday gave a clean chit to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in the palm oil import case, dismissing a petition filed by CPI-M veteran V S Achuthanandan and former bureaucrat and legislator K J Alphonse.

The two petitioners had approached the high court to set aside the verdict of the Thrissur Vigilance Court in May last year that accepted a report giving a clean chit to Chandy by a vigilance probe team.

The vigilance probe team had concluded that Chandy had no role in the import of palm oil.

Alphonse was an independent legislator supported by the Left during 2006-11.

The import of 15,000 tonnes of palm oil was undertaken in 1992.

The case was registered in 1999 when the CPI-M, led by E K Nayanar, was in power. The vigilance department had earlier submitted a report that there was nothing in the case that could indict Chandy.

Former chief minister K Karunakaran, then food minister T H Mustafa and bureaucrats P J Thomas and Jiji Thompson were charged with causing a loss of Rs.2.32 crore to the exchequer by importing palm oil from Malaysia at an enhanced price.