VACB gets two months for Travancore Titanium Products probe
The team also found that the equipment of the waste treatment plant was remaining unused on the TTP premises.
Thiruvananthapuram: A Vigilance court here on Tuesday directed the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to file the final report in the Travancore Titanium Products corruption case in two months. The case assumes significance as former chief minister Oommen Chandy, Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala and former PWD minister V.K. Ibrahim Kunju faced corruption allegation in the installation of a Rs 256 crore hazardous waste treatment plant.
The VACB told the Inquiry Commissioner and Special Court (Vigilance) here on Tuesday that the probe was progressing and that certain crucial documents recovered from the TTP premises needed to be analysed by experts. Hence, four more months were required to complete the probe, the VACB said.
Considering the objections raised by the counsel for the petitioners, the court observed that the demand for four more months was not reasonable and hence only two months were allowed. The case was also posted to September 29. It may be recalled that a VACB team led by Vigilance director Jacob Thomas had carried out surprise checks on the TTP premises here on Friday last and collected various documents.
The team also found that the equipment of the waste treatment plant was remaining unused on the TTP premises. The VACB also informed the court that six persons were already arraigned in the case and that the investigation was progressing in the right direction. TTP former managing director Eapen Joseph, former executive director R.K. Bhaskaran, former chief marketing manager Santosh Kumar, former chief commercial managers Thomas Mathew and Gopakumaran Nair were arraigned in the FIR filed in January last year.