Chief secretary S M Vijayanand awaits VACB report on Tom Jose after Vigilance report

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief secretary S.M. Vijayanand on Saturday said the government would take a decision once Vigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau (VACB) submitted its report on the outcome of raids on the premises of additional chief secretary Tom Jose. The chief secretary said the decision would be taken after examining the vigilance report. “They conducted raids on Friday. We are awaiting the report,” he told mediapersons on the sidelines of a function on Saturday.

Sources said in the report which is likely to be submitted on Monday, the vigilance might seek the officer’s suspension. During the raids carried out on Friday, the vigilance had found that Tom Jose amassed Rs 1.91 crore in the last six and a half years following which an FIR was registered against him. The vigilance is likely to submit the report through home secretary. No clearance is required from the Centre for carrying out suspension of all India civil service officer.

As per the existing rules, in the event of an IAS officer being placed under suspension by a state government, the Department of Personnel and Training will have to be intimated within 24 hours. Besides, the charges framed against the officer will have to be intimated to DoPT within a period of 45 days. The recent instance when an IAS officer was suspended had happened when former PWD secretary T.O. Sooraj was suspended on a vigilance recommendation.

Meanwhile, vigilance is also gathering information about an NRK as part of the probe into Jose amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income.  According to vigilance, the officer had shared the information that he received a huge amount of money from Dr Anitha Jose at different times. Based on his statement, the vigilance team had visited the lady’s house in Ramapuram in Kottayam district. However, after making enquiries there the team found that no one had been residing in the said house for years. The chief secretary has denied any rift between IAS and IPS officers in the state. He said the IAS officers had not submitted any compliant to him against VACB director Jacob Thomas.