Complaint Against Former Principal Secretary Sivashankar

Complaint against Sivashankar: Vigilance seeks govt’s permission for probe
The complaint was lodged by a number of people, including the Leader of the Opposition, demanding that the IT department looks into illegal appointments and consultancy contracts.

Thiruvananthapuram: Vigilance has sought the permission of the government to investigate the complaint against former principal secretary to the chief minister of Kerala M Sivasankar.

The Director of Vigilance also handed over the complaint received against Shivshankar to the Kerala government.

The complaint was lodged by a number of people, including the Leader of the Opposition, demanding that the IT department looks into illegal appointments and consultancy contracts. Complaints have also been lodged with the CBI and Central Vigilance.

Investigations against ministers, MLAs and senior officials require government approval under Amendment 17 (a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

It was in this context that Vigilance Director Anil Kant handed over the file to the Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department seeking permission for the investigation.

Apart from appointments in the IT department, the Leader of the Opposition has also been accused of making allegations in the name of the BowQ app. There have also been complaints of corruption in appointments under the IT department, nepotism and financial loss to the government.

Former ministers VS Sivakumar and VK Ibrahim Kunju and KM Shaji had also approached the government seeking permission to conduct an inquiry. The investigation was carried out with the permission of the government.

Meanwhile, the second accused in the gold smuggling case took the bank locker to the joint account along with his dream. Chartered Accountant N.S. I. Eck has given a statement.

A total of Rs 64 lakh, 982.5 grams of gold and Rs 36.5 lakh were seized from the locker of SBI City branch and the Statue branch of Federal Bank.