KOCHI: In a new twist to the palmolein case, Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan on Monday filed an application before the Kerala High Court seeking to get impleaded in the case. Achuthanandan filed the application on a petition by senior IAS officer Jiji Thomson, the fifth accused in the case, challenging the Vigilance Court order directing to find out the involvement of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. Considering Jiji Thomson’s petition, the High Court had earlier stayed the probe order by the Vigilance Court. Achuthanandan submitted that there were attempts to sabotage the case and he had approached many courts in connection with the case. It is on such a situation that he moved the application to hear his version too in Jiji’s petition. Apart from this, BJP national executive member Alphons Kannanthanam also filed an impleading application on Monday.“When Oommen Chandy was the Chief Minister in 2005, the government wrote to the Centre stating that they wish to withdraw their earlier request for according sanction to prosecute IAS officers in palmolein case, including Jiji Thomson. “Therefore I apprehend that the state may not effectively and wholeheartedly defend the petition filed by Jiji. If the petition is allowed, the real and ultimate beneficiary would be Oommen Chandy,” the Opposition Leader pointed out in his application. Achuthanandan further submitted that Jiji has no locus standi to challenge the orders passed by the Vigilance Special Court and cannot have any grievance in the orders in respect of further investigation against Chandy. The main contention of the petitioner is that further investigation order would cause further delay in the trial. At the same time Jiji moved the court only one-and-a-half month after the Vigilance Court order to complete further investigation within three months, VS submitted.“On May 13, when the Assembly election results were declared, the investigating officer filed a report before the Special Judge stating that the Finance Department could not be made responsible for the anomalies in the palmolein import deal. The coalition headed by Chandy secured a majority in the elections. The investigating officer, without even intimating the special public prosecutor, filed the Further Investigation Report,” VS said.Achuthanandan submitted that the import of palmolein was tainted with large-scale corruption and gross irregularities and he had brought the issue to the public domain by moving a submission in the Assembly on March 3, 1992. Meanwhile, Alphons Kannanthanam requested the HC to monitor the case on a weekly basis, as is done by the Supreme Court in the 2G scam. “Constitute a special investigation team to investigate the case as the present team of officers in the Vigilance Department has already tried to save their masters,” he submitted.
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