Kerala HC summons Additional Chief Secretary over delay in SNDP case sanction
Kerala High Court summons Additional Chief Secretary over delay in deciding prosecution sanction in the SNDP microfinance misappropriation case.
The Kerala High Court on Thursday directed the Additional Chief Secretary of the Backwards Classes Welfare Department (BCWD) to appear before it on Friday to explain the delay in deciding whether to grant sanction to prosecute an accused official of the department in the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP) microfinance case.
Justice A. Badharudeen issued the direction after noting that the department had not complied with an earlier court order to consider the request for prosecution sanction. When the State sought additional time to comply, the court declined, stating there was no justification for granting the request.
The case concerns alleged misappropriation in loans disbursed to the SNDP Yogam between 2003 and 2014 by the Kerala State Backward Classes Development Corporation. The funds were intended for backward communities under the Micro Finance Programme.
The lead investigating officer had earlier reported that the inquiry uncovered eight instances of alleged misappropriation in Pulpally, Mananthavady, Ranni, Kunnathunadu, Kanayannoor, Chittoor and Taliparamba. The report named accused persons in three cases from Pulpally, Ranni and Mananthavady, including SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan, M.N. Soman, K.K. Mahesan, K.S. Sabu, Vasanthkumar, T. Prabhakaran and R. Purushothaman.