Chennithala says Jacob Thomas was denied permission with his information

Sabarimala: Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on Thursday said it was with his information that IPS officer Jacob Thomas was denied permission to file a defamation case against Chief Minister Oommen Chandy over certain remarks made by him.

“We refused to give him the permission to sue the Chief Minister as we felt that would create a wrong code of behavior. I signed the file regarding the matter after seeing it personally,” Chennithala told reporters here.

The Cabinet had on Wednesday refused permission to Jacob Thomas to file a defamation case against Chandy over certain remarks made by him.

Chandy had said though he was in favour of giving sanction to the officer to file the defamation case, his cabinet colleagues opposed it.

Permission was refused as per the cabinet decision, he added.

DGP Jacob Thomas, now Managing Director of Kerala Police Housing and Construction Corporation, has written to the Chief Secretary seeking sanction to file a defamation case against the Chief Minister for making remarks allegedly causing embarrassment to him (Thomas).

Thomas' move came in the wake of criticism by Chandy of the officer's refusal to grant no objection certificates to at least 70 builders for not having safety standards when he was the Director of Kerala Fire and Rescue Services.

Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson had forwarded Thomas' letter to the Chief Minister for taking a final decision.

Thomas, who has had sore relations with the government, was earlier with the Vigilance.

He was shifted to the Fire and Rescue department after he reportedly took a strong stand in the vigilance case against Kerala Congress-M leader K M Mani who was forced to resign as Finance minister in the bar bribery case.