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Court seeks all documents in 'bar scam' case

With only less than four months to go for the next assembly poll, political observers are doubtful whether the present scrutiny will be completed even before the end of the current term of the government.

Trivandrum: The return of former finance minister K M Mani to the Kerala cabinet is likely to be delayed with the vigilance court posting the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) report, giving him a clean chit in the bar bribery scandal, for a detailed hearing on February 16.
Vigilance court judge John K Illikkadan, who considered the report of the further probe conducted by superintendent of police R Sukeshan on Saturday, has asked the probe team to produce all the case documents, including the factual report and case diary in the court. The court had rejected the previous report and ordered further investigation in the case after examining all these documents. The court then took four months to scrutinise the documents and pass the order.
With only less than four months to go for the next assembly poll, political observers are doubtful whether the present scrutiny will be completed even before the end of the current term of the government. This means Mani may not be able to go to the people on a clean slate.
Mani had resigned in November last year following adverse remarks from the high court over his continuation in the cabinet even after the commencement of further investigation into the allegation that he had received a bribe of Rs2.5 million from the bar owners.