Bar bribery case: DGP defends Vinson M Paul

Thiruvananthapuram: State police chief T P Senkumar on Friday came out in defence of Vigilance Director Vinson M Paul, who had offered to resign from the post owning moral responsibility of keeping the goodwill of the agency in the view of the Vigilance court order in the bar bribery case.

“Vinson M Paul is an honest officer. His involvement in the case was in line with the post he held,” Senkumar said.

The DGP criticised Kerala Police Housing and Construction MD, Jacob Thomas, over his remarks on the court order.

"Jacob Thomas had never dealt with bar bribery case. So he should not have passed any comments on the court verdict" he said.

Jaccob Thomas, an officer in the rank of DGP, had said the court's order for probe against Finance Minister K.M Mani was good. He was also a former Additional Director of the Vigilance Department.

In a setback to the UDF government, the Vigilance court Thursday ordered a re-probe into the bar bribery case.

Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge John K Illekadan declined to accept the final investigation report by Vigilance and Anti-corruption Bureau which had exonerated Finance Minister K M Mani stating there was no evidence to corroborate the charges that he demanded Rs five crore and accepted Rs one crore as bribe for renewal of licence to 470 Indian made foreign liquor bars in 2014.

The court observed that the final report was "not acceptable" and the matter was "remitted back to investigation officer for further probe".

After announcing his decision to quit as Vigilance Director, Vinson M Paul told media that he was opting out to keep the goodwill of the agency as any remarks against him should not mar its reputation.

“I followed the rules in the case and had the freedom to act fair and impartial. In the capacity of the director, I pointed out some faults and factual errors. But I faced criticism as if I did something wrong,” he said.