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Kochi, Oct 31 (IANS) In a major blow to the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA), the Kerala High Court on Friday reinstated vigilance cases against its former office-bearers over alleged irregularities in land deals for the construction of cricket stadiums in Edakochi and Thodupuzha.
A division bench of Justice AK Jaishankaran Nambiar and Justice Jobin Sebastian set aside the 2015 judgment of the single bench which had quashed the cases, saying that the KCA and its officials did not fall within the ambit of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (PC Act).
“The result of the above discussions is that we allow these appeals by setting aside the impugned judgment of the learned single judge and dismiss the writ petitions as devoid of merit,” the bench said in its order passed in open court.
A vigilance inquiry was initiated in 2013 following private complaints alleging corruption in the purchase of KCA land to build international level cricket stadiums at Eddakochi and Thodupuzha.
Acting on these complaints, the Vigilance Court had directed to register an FIR against the then KCA President TC Mathew and other officials.
The accused then moved the High Court and argued that KCA, being an autonomous sporting body affiliated with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), is not a “public office” and its officials cannot be prosecuted as “public servants”.
Accepting this argument, a single bench in 2015 quashed the vigilance proceedings, ruling that the association’s activities lacked a public element as it did not receive government funds.
It was held that the act of purchasing the land was not, in itself, a public duty, and the public element would arise only when the stadium was constructed and opened for public use.
Disagreeing with this view, the Division Bench observed that the functions of the KCA, by their nature and scale, fall within the ambit of the PC Act, thereby enabling the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to continue its investigation.
–IANS
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