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Why was honest cop Jacob Thomas sacked by the CM in Kerala?

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Anand Kochukudy
Anand KochukudyApr 04, 2017 | 11:42

Why was honest cop Jacob Thomas sacked by the CM in Kerala?

Hrishikesh Mukherjee is among my favourite Hindi film directors. Films like Anand, Abhimaan, Chupke Chupke, Guddi, Mili, Abhimaan and Golmaal are on top of my list.

Being a South Indian, I am willing to apportion some of the credit for my relatively good command over the Hindi language to the repeated viewing of films like Chupke Chupke and the master craftsman in Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

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However, there was one film directed by Mukherjee with Dharmendra in the lead that was rather dark for my teenaged self - one I couldn't appreciate back then.

The film is Satyakam (1969), that Hrishida considers his best work and Dharmendra rates as his best performance.

I watched the film once again a couple of years back, and despite the slow pace, it was a stirring experience.

Satyakam tells the story of an upright civil engineer who has to fight against a corrupt system that ultimately fails him as he doesn't budge an inch from his principles.

Many moral and existential questions are posed by the film but that's a separate topic. The immediate context for recounting the film is a recent incident in my home state of Kerala I have been closely following.

An upright officer, who almost single-handedly stood up against a system of reciprocity and corruption in high office, had a roller coaster ride for ten months as the Director of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption bureau (VACB), but was ultimately hounded out of his office as almost the entire system ganged up against him: Jacob Thomas.

An 1985-batch IPS officer, Thomas was handpicked by the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government in Kerala in June 2016.

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It was hailed as an excellent decision for a government that rode to power on an anti-corruption plank. Delivering the policy speech of the government on June 24, 2016 in the Kerala legislative assembly, governor P Sadasivam had said, "LDF government would pursue a proactive policy of zero tolerance to corruption."

So, what changed in the next 10 months that led to the removal of this officer?

If the initial three months or so weren't that eventful, things changed dramatically in days that followed as the vigilance not only went after the corruption of the previous regime, but also the people affiliated to the ruling party, including Kannur strongman and designated number two in the Pinarayi Cabinet, EP Jayarajan.

In fact, the cases that made Jacob enter the bad books of the ruling CPI(M) include booking EP Jayarajan under the stringent clause of the Prevention of Corruption Act (1988) after a Quick verification (QV), as well as naming veteran CPM leader TP Dasan, the first accused in the Sports Lottery Case following a complaint filed by athlete Anju Bobby George.

Jacob's pursuit of cases against top bureaucrats of the state, including finance secretary KM Abraham, additional chief secretary and Kerala IAS association president Tom Jose and industries secretary Paul Antony too did not go down well with the powers that be.

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However, throughout the trials and tribulations, the chief minister firmly backed the officer who exemplified the anti-corruption credentials of the government and helped raise the image of the government as non-partisan and uncompromising on corruption at high places.

Yet, Jacob was shunted out.

The immediate provocation seems to be a verbal observation made by high court judge P Ubaid on March 29, asking why the government hadn't removed the officer despite jurisdictional overreach.

This followed another verbal volley at the officer by the same judge on February 20 when justice Ubaid stunned the prosecution by asking if there was a Vigilance Raj in the state.

Media personality and high court lawyer A Jayasankar observes that the series of adverse remarks against the vigilance department by the high court is a recent phenomenon.

Till the court went into recess towards the end of 2016, all the cases pertaining to vigilance were being heard by justice Kemal Pasha, and even at the last hearing, the latter had praised the vigilance department for its functioning.

However, post-recess, the vigilance cases were being heard by the single bench headed by justice Ubaid.

I asked advocate Jayaprakash how the assignment of cases was undertaken at the high court. He told me that it was done by the chief justice for different departments on a rotational basis.

The practice of naming judges in the media has been done away with recently in Kerala in the aftermath of the media ban in the courts. Hence journalists are averse to highlighting issues concerning the judiciary.

There is also the threat of "contempt of court" that makes people think twice.

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An 1985-batch IPS officer, Thomas was handpicked by the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government in Kerala in June 2016. Photo: Metrovartha

I asked advocate Jayasankar why the advocate general or other government lawyers hadn't defended the vigilance department or why the chief minister, who had staunchly defended the vigilance director in the Kerala legislative assembly only a fortnight ago, failed to do so again.

Known for his outspoken ways, Jayasankar did not hesitate to spell out what people have been discussing in hushed tones.

That the CBI's revision petition in the SNC-Lavlin case, an albatross hanging around the CM's neck for more than a decade, is also being heard by the bench headed by justice Ubaid and as such the Vijayan wouldn't want to irk the judge.

Many lawyers and political observers have already been insinuating that the decision to oust Jacob was influenced by the legal advice given by Pinarayi's lawyer Harish Salve and his legal adviser MK Damodaran.

The unceremonious exit of the vigilance director weakens the government's anti-corruption image as well as some of the radical changes brought about by Jacob Thomas in the functioning of the department and strict adherence to the law.

The charge of the vigilance department has been handed to DGP Loknath Behra, who has himself been under a lot of fire owing to the collapsing law and order machinery and rising crimes against women and children in the state.

This could also be an indication that the wheels are coming off for the Pinaryi Vijayan government.

If the revision petition of the CBI in the SNC-Lavlin case is accepted by the high court, the chief minister will find himself in a quandary and might even have to resign to face trial if the party so decides.

A remark made by state general secretary of the CPI(M), Kodiyeri Balakrishnan that the Malappuram by poll to Parliament (owing to EA Ahmed's death) would be a referendum of the 10-month-old Pinarayi government did not escape anyone's notice.

This was also followed by the evaluation of the government and ministries by the CPI(M) state Committee and state secretariat, where the functioning of the government came under severe criticism from the majority.

Last updated: April 04, 2017 | 13:58
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