Aishwarya Rathore –
Published On: October 1, 2021 at 12:50 IST
The Supreme Court refused to entertain a Special Leave Petition brought by Former Kerala Minister KT Jaleel contesting the decision of the Kerala High Court upholding the Kerala Lok Ayukta Report that found him guilty of Nepotism and Favouritism.
Senior Advocate Gopal Shankaranarayanan, representing Jaleel, requested the Court to remand the matter so that Jaleel could explain the facts why the findings were wrong.
To this, Justice L Nageswara Rao stated, “We could have considered it if it was a case of vague or ambiguous allegations. But it is a clear case of a relative being favoured. If he was not related, we could have heard you on so many other things.”
Jaleel, who was the Minister for Higher Education and Minority Welfare during the Left Democratic Front Government, was found to have violated his oath of office by appointing his relative Adeeb as General Manager of the Kerala State Minorities Development Finance Corporation Limited in violation of the norms.
After the Report’s release, Jaleel was forced to resign as Minister last April.
On April 20, 2021, a Division Bench of Justices PB Suresh Kumar and K Babu confirmed the LokAyukta report, noting that Jaleel had not made out any grounds for interference in the final opinion formulated by the Lok Ayukta.
Accordingly, the Special Leave Petition was dismissed as withdrawn.
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