Kerala UDF Govt Withdraws Palmolein Case

The Keral UDF Govt has issued a formal order to withdraw the palmolein case

The order is a follow-up on the Cabinet decision to move the Special Judge and Enquiry Commissioner, Thrissur, trying the palmolein case, for permission to withdraw the case under Section 321 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

The detailed order, dated September 13, 2013 is intended to cancel an order issued by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) Govt on July 25, 2006, reviving the case, which was earlier sought to be withdrawn by its predecessor United Democratic Front (UDF) Govt on March 28, 2005

Palmolein Oil Import Scam

Palm Olein Import Scam (Palm Olein Case, Palm Olein Corruption Case, 1991–92) are the alleged irregularities in the import of palm olein by K Karunakaran led UDF Govt of the State of Kerala through the Power and Energy Limited Company

Kerala Govtt decided to import 15000 tonnes of Palm Oil from a Malaysian company in Singapore named "Power and Energy Ltd" above the international price which was approved by the Kerala Cabinet. The price of import was fixed to $405.0 per ton which was higher than the international price of $392.25 per ton. The import order was signed by P J Thomas, who was then Kerala's Food Secretary. The investigation agency's charge sheet in the case says that this order caused a loss of more than 2.32 cores

Those accused in the Palm Olein Case

• K. Karunakaran

• Former Food and Civil Supplies Minister T.H. Musthafa (a close associate of Karunakaran)
• Former Chief Secretary S. Padmakumar (who, along with Karunakaran, allegedly met the Singapore-based company representative in New Delhi and agreed informally on the deal as early as October 1991)
• Former Additional Chief Secretary Zacharia Mathew
• Former Managing Director of the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation Jiji Thomson
• Director of Mala Export Corporation V. Sadasivan
• Director of P&E Pvt. Ltd Sivaramakrishnan
• P.J. Thomas, Secretary Food & Civil Supplies

 

The Kerala State Government selected Power and Energy Limited arbitrarily without inviting tenders and supposedly at an inflated price and at an excessive service charge and in violation of Central and State government norms existing in India

Palm Olein Import Scam was first brought to light officially by a report of the Accountant General, Kerala, in July 1993, a Comptroller and Auditor General report in February 1994, and subsequently by a report of the Public Undertakings Committee of the Kerala Legislative Assembly in March 1996

When LDF came to power in May 1996, a vigilance case was registered against K Karunakaran and six others on March 21, 1997. Following a vigilance inquiry, a charge sheet was submitted to the Court of the Inquiry Commissioner and Special Judge, Trivandrum, on March 23, 2001

The Palm Olein Case dragged on endlessly, with Karunakaran filing writ petitions and appeals before the Kerala High Court and the Supreme Court of India, raising the plea of bad faiths (mala fides) and eventually obtaining a stay order from the Supreme Court of India in August 2007 on further proceedings before the trial court. The appeal remained pending before the SC until Karunakaran's death in December 2010