In letter to CM, Abraham calls HC verdict against him as ‘forum shopping'
Thiruvananthapuram: Chief principal secretary to the chief minister and former IAS officer K M Abraham described Kerala high court's April 11 verdict ordering a CBI probe against him as "an unfortunate instance of forum shopping.
" He alleged that the court acted beyond its jurisdiction by ordering an investigation through a criminal miscellaneous petition.
In a nine-page letter submitted to chief minister
Pinarayi Vijayan
on April 15, accessed by TOI, Abraham said the judge's decision to allow a new prayer for CBI investigation in a petition wherein the trial court earlier dismissed the plea for a vigilance probe represents a circumvention of judicial procedure.
"The petitioner, whose plea for a vigilance investigation was earlier dismissed by the trial court, sought to circumvent this rejection by introducing an additional prayer for a CBI enquiry within the same proceedings," Abraham wrote. "This represents a direct attempt to bypass established judicial procedure… the hon'ble judge lacked the jurisdiction to consider such a prayer within a Crl.M.C. (criminal miscellaneous case), but nevertheless proceeded to order a CBI investigation," he said.
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The use of the term 'forum shopping', typically associated with attempts to manipulate judicial outcomes by choosing favourable judges, could be construed as casting aspersions on the court's conduct and may risk inviting contempt proceedings under the Contempt of Court Act.
Abraham also called for a counter-investigation by state police, alleging that the petitioner conspired with two individuals against whom he submitted adverse reports in his capacity as additional chief secretary.
He said he had call data records (CDR) that confirm extensive conversations — over 10,000 seconds with one accused and around 4,000 seconds with the other — between his adversaries and the petitioner. Legal experts point out that these allegations are problematic as access to personal CDR of a citizen may constitute a violation of privacy and telecom laws requiring registration of a crime.
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