Former Kerala High Court Justice CN Ramachandran Nair named accused in CSR fund scam

Former judge of the Kerala High Court, Justice CN Ramachandran Nair, has been arrayed as an accused in a cheating case registered in connection with what is now dubbed as the CSR fund scam case. .The multi-crore Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fund scam involves allegations that one Ananthu Krishnan defrauded several people and charitable societies by promising to deliver two-wheelers, laptops, sewing machines, and household appliances at half the market price. Krishnan would allegedly claim that he was procuring these items using CSR funds of several private firms.According to the police, Krishnan, claiming to be the coordinator of the National NGO Confederation, approached several charitable organisations with his fraudulent offer. These organisations in turn helped him to identify beneficiaries and pooled funds with him as well.Police stations across Kerala have been flooded with complaints from those who were defrauded by Krishnan. .Justice Ramachandran Nair has been named as the third accused in a first information report (FIR) registered by the Perinthalmanna Police Station in Malappuram district based on a complaint filed by one Danimon who is the president of the Angadippuram Kisan Service Society (KSS), an implementing agency. As per the complaint, the NGO Confederation and its office bearers swindled ₹34 lakh from KSS between April and November 2024. The FIR names Justice Nair as an accused in his capacity as a patron of the National NGO Confederation. The FIR includes offences punishable under Sections 318(4) (cheating inducing delivery of property) and 3(5) (offence committed by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Ananthu Krishnan has been named as the second accused as the Chairman of the Confederation as the first accused (National NGO Confederation)..Justice Nair has since publicly rubbished the allegations and stated that he was not a patron of the NGO Confederation. He has stated that he was merely a legal advisor but he had severed all ties with the organisation some time ago.Justice Nair has been in the news recently as he was appointed by the State government to head an inquiry commission to look into the Munambam land dispute.Following the registration of the FIR, High Court lawyer Kulathoor Jaisingh has written to the Chief Minister requesting that Justice Nair be removed from the Commission. .Several other prominent individuals have been named as accused in the scam in complaints filed at various police stations. These include IUML Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Najeeb Kanthapuram and Congress leader Laly Vincent. The latter was recently granted interim protection from arrest by the Kerala High Court. An NGO headed by BJP leader AN Radhakrishnan has also been named in some complaints.