Karunakaran sued as principal
accused in palm oil import case
The Directorate of Vigilance Investigation in the state of Kerala
has registered a case before the Special Vigilance Court against
former chief minister K Karunakaran and four others in the controversial
'Palmoline import deal' of 1992.
Besides Karunakaran, who is listed as the prime accused, the then
food and civil supplies minister T H Mustaffa, the then chief
secretary S Padmakumar, the then additional chief secretary Zachariah
Mathew and the then managing director of the state civil supplies
corporation Jiji Thomson, are the others accused in the case.
Karunakaran and the others were charged under Section 13(2) read
with 13(1)d of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 (Official
Misconduct for Causing Pecuniary Gain) and Section 120(b) of the
Indian Penal Code (Criminal Conspiracy).
The case related to the import of 15,000 tonnes of palm oil through
the Power and Energy Private Limited, a Malaysia company, for
distribution through the public distribution network.
The import was allegedly in violation of the guidelines of the
State Trading Corporation.
They were charged with having entered into criminal conspiracy
with the P and E Private Limited for the import of palm oil at
a price that was higher than the then prevailing international
market rate.
The deal led to the state losing Rs 28 million.
UNI
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