Pattoor land case: HC pulls up Jacob Thomas
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Kochi: The High Court on Friday pulled up former Vigilance Director Jacob Thomas in connection with the Vigilance investigation into Pattoor land case.
The court commented that he has used guesses and assumptions in the investigation report instead of using firm facts as basis. Reading his report, one may get the impression that everybody else is corrupt, the court observed.
The court also criticised him for not presenting documents related to the land deal, and ordered that on coming Wednesday, the records regarding the quick verification should be produced, for re-examination by the court.
The observations came when the bench considered the plea by former chief secretary Bharat Bhushan seeking to quash the case.
The Vigilance case stated that 12.75 cents of government land was lost by the shifting of sewage pipeline of KWA done in order to help a private builder.
Thomas Jacob, as Vigilance chief then, was the one who conducted the enquiry, who reported that there was a manipulation in the land deal in Pattoor. But after examing the records, the court could not find any irregularities. Therefore the court ordered Jacob to give explanation in person at the court.