Revision plea filed against vigilance court's order withdrawn

The Kerala High Court today observed that a revision petition filed against the order of further probe into bar bribery case amounts to abuse of process of law.
Justice B Kemal Pasha made this observation while considering a revision petition seeking further hearing in the case questioning Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Court's order for further probe in the bar bribery case involving former Finance Minister K M Mani.
Following the court's observation, the petitioner Sunny Mathew, an advocate, withdrew the revision petition.
In the earlier proceedings before High Court, Sunny Mathew was a respondent and he was heard in detail.
Sunny Mathew was supporting Mani and had questioned the Vigilance Court order.

The Judge said that if the proceedings are continued, the Court has to examine merit of the case and enter into findings.

"You can't then run away," Justice Kemal Pasha said.
Pursuant to this observation, the petitioner sought permission of the court to withdraw the revision petition.
The Vigilance Court had on October 29, while ordering further probe into the bar bribery case against Mani, observed that there are "sufficient materials for making out a prima facie case."
Special Judge John K Illekadan had passed the order for further probe, rejecting the final report of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to close the case against Mani.

"From an overall analysis of the materials available on records and from the events which followed in quick succession in the case, it can be seen that there are sufficient materials for making out a prima facie case in respect to the alleged incident," the judge had observed.
An FIR had been filed against Mani in Thiruvananthapuram court last year after a 'quick verification' by the Vigilance department on the allegations made by Kerala State Bar Hotel Owners's Association working President Biju Ramesh that the Minister had accepted Rs one crore as bribe for renewal of licence to 470 Indian Made Foreign Liquor bars in the state.