Slamming the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for dragging on its investigation into the suspicious deals in the Karuvannur Cooperative Bank, the Kerala High Court on Monday directed it to inform the court about the present stage of investigation and as to when it will be completed.
Justice Devan Ramachandran while dealing with a case filed by one of the accused in the case told the counsel for the ED that “the investigation cannot be allowed to continue ad infinitum that will rob the legitimacy of the very system.” How could the investigation be conducted for three years, the court asked. The investigation agency could not keep on investigating into the cases indefinitely and such an action would question the integrity of the investigation agency. The ED had to pull its socks up and do whatever was required. There was no point in keeping all the people under the sword of Damocles, the court orally observed.
Petition by accused
The court made the observation when a petition filed by Alisabri, an accused in the case, and others challenged the provisional attachment order issued by the ED and sought to de-freeze his bank accounts came up for hearing.
The court further observed that it was prima facie a textbook case of how people were losing faith in the cooperative system. The cooperative sector was intended to help the ordinary people and alleviate their problems, which was a constitutional imperative. It was not meant for multi-millionaires. The people who invested their life savings in the bank were now getting scared.
ED’s response
The counsel for the ED submitted that the ED was investigating various instances of suspicious deals in the bank. In fact, only the tip of the iceberg had been revealed.
The counsel for the petitioner submitted that he had repaid the entire loan amount and the bank had issued the title deeds of his property and sanctioned loans on fictitious names. However, the counsel for the bank submitted that the petitioner was yet to repay the loans and arbitration proceedings were pending against him.
In an affidavit filed by the ED earlier in the case, it had been pointed out that Sunil Kumar T.R., former secretary of the bank, had deposed before the agency that loans were granted under pressure from A.C. Moideen, former Minister and the then Thrissur CPI(M) district secretary; CPI(M)leader Paloli Mohammed Kutty; P. Rajeeve, the then Ernakulam CPI(M) district secretary and now Industries Minister. The former bank secretary had also stated that loans were granted violating the by-laws.
The court granted the ED three weeks time to file a statement on the stage of investigation and the time required for completion of the investigation.
