Breaking: Kerala High Court dismisses former Kerala PWD minister Ebrahim Kunju's bail plea in Palarivattom Flyover graft case [Read Order]

The Kerala High Court today dismissed former PWD Minister Ebrahim Kunju's bail plea in the Palarivattom flyover corruption case while granting him liberty to move a fresh bail application once he is discharged from hospital, where he is presently being treated for various illnesses. .A Single Judge Bench of Justice PV Kunhikrishnan issued the order today, beginning his order remarking upon the etymology of the place name 'Palarivattom'.Stating that the pace name 'Palarivattom' evolved from the word 'Pagalnarivattom', or 'where jackals roams even during the day, the Court humourously observed that the corrupt had replaced jackals in the area..Now Keralites suspect that it is not jackals but corrupt people wandering through this area.Justice Kunhikrishnan remarks in his order.Stating that the Vigilance needed to unearth the truth so that Palarivattom returned to its original association with 'jackals' rather than corruption, the Judge refrained from discussing the merits of the case.Any discussion of merits would prejudice both the investigation and the petitioner, the Judge opines in his order..The Judge also reasoned that since the former Minister was undergoing treatment under the supervision of doctors and a hospital of his choice, the benefit of the proviso to Section 437 of the Code of Criminal Procedure did not arise. Section 437 allows a Court to enlarge an ill person or a woman on bail, per its discretion..Therefore, the bail application was dismissed..On Friday, Ebrahim Kunju's counsel, Senior Advocate B Raman Pillai, had argued that the Minister had no role in any graft during the project, since he was actively involved in various other programmes as a Minister..All the necessary documents were vetted by secretaries, after which the Minister affixed his signature to them, it was submitted. There were no discrepancies pointed out to him at any stage, Pillai had claimed.The State Attorney on the other hand had asserted that the Department needed to question him further on the question of bribe and the payment of advance. He conceded that while paying advance on projects was a practice for other works contracts, it was barred by law for PWD work..Agreeing that the former Minister could remain in hospital as against prison whilst investigation was going on, he had urged the Court not to release the former Minister on bail..After hearing Ebrahim Kunju's counsel and the State attorney, Justice Kunhikrishnan proceeded to reserve the matter for orders. .The Palarivattom flyover, a pet project of the previous United Democratic Front (UDF) government, ran into trouble after the flyover was found to be unsafe for commute. Shortly thereafter, the project began to be investigated for graft..Investigating authorities have argued that the Palarivattom flyover contract was not handed to the lowest bidder, as was the usual practice. The payment of an advance amount for the project to the contractors has also been assailed..Last month, Ebrahim Kunju, the former Minister who had been at the helm of the PWD during the project’s completion, was arrested by the Vigilance department, citing his probable involvement in corruption. The department claimed that Ebrahim Kunju was not cooperating with investigation, while alleging that he had taken a bribe for the project..Read Order: