Kerala minister Jaleel not fit to continue in power: Lokayukta

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Lokayukta on Friday found state higher education minister KT Jaleel guilty of favouritism, abuse of power and violation of oath of office, and ruled that he has no right to continue in the council of ministers

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Lokayukta on Friday found state higher education minister KT Jaleel guilty of favouritism, abuse of power and violation of oath of office, and ruled that he has no right to continue in the council of ministers.

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The verdict against the minister, who was grilled several times in connection with import of dry dates and holy books by central agencies, came on a complaint regarding the appointment of his relative KT Adeeb as the general manager of the Kerala State Minorities Development Finance Corporation Limited in 2018. There was a big uproar when Adeeb was appointed allegedly by flouting all norms and later forced to resign.

Later, a lawyer V K Mohammad Shafi, had filed a compliant with the Lokayukta, which on Friday ruled, “The action of the respondent (Jaleel) was actuated in a discharge of his function as minister by personal interest to favour his second cousin. It amounted to favouritism and nepotism and also lack of integrity in his capacity as the minister.” The verdict was passed by Justices Cyriac Joseph and Harun-al-Rasheed. It also said he diluted qualifications and norms for the post just to favour his kin.

Lokayukta found that the minister’s earlier assertion, that Adeeb was selected after many candidates appeared for the interview, unsuitable. “In spite of objections raised from many quarters, the minister directed to issue an order and in the process other eligible candidates were denied the opportunity,” it said. Muslim League leader P K Firoze was first to raise the allegation. After his appointment snowballed into a major row, Adeeb quit his post and rejoined his parent organisation, South Indian Bank.

The opposition Congress and BJP had sought Jaleel’s immediate resignation. “He has no right to continue in power. The CM should drop him,” said opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala. But the minister maintained that the case was rejected by high court and he would take a decision after consulting legal experts. “Former Governor Justice Sathasivam and High Court had rejected the petition two years back. I will take a decision after consulting my lawyers,” he posted his comment on social media.

After the gold smuggling case involving the UAE consulate came to light last year, Jaleel was questioned by the Customs and Enforcement on several occasions. Trouble started brewing for him after call records of Swapna Suresh, the main accused in the gold smuggling case, were leaked to the media. The minister’s phone number figured prominently in the list. Soon after the list came out, the minister said he had called Suresh as a consular employee in connection with Ramadan kits offered by the UAE consulate in the state capital.

But the minister’s clarification invited more trouble as he was not supposed to accept any funds or freebies without the consent of the Ministry of External Affairs and experts said it was a clear violation of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). During the probe, the customs also found that a heavy consignment came in last March in 31 bags, weighing more than 4,000 kg and they were taken to Malappuram. The minister later admitted that he took these packets to his constituency and said they were religious books.

The customs also found that between 2017 and 2018, about 17,000kg dry dates was imported by the consular office. Considered close to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the party had defended the minister, who was the minority mascot of the party on several times.