"Using public funds by public servant for his benefit cannot be considered as done in discharge of public duties"

Utilisation of public funds by a public servantfor his benefit under the colour of authority cannot be considered an act done in discharge of his official duties, the Kerala High Court said on Friday and dismissed a petition by former PWD Secretary T O Sooraj to quash an FIR against him in the controversial Palarivattom flyover scam case.

Justice R Narayana Pisharadi dismissed a petition by Sooraj, an accused in the case, whocontended that the preliminary enquiry by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau was without prior approval of the state government, as envisaged under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act and was illegal and improper.

''Use or utilization of public funds by a public servant under the colour of authority, but really for his own benefit cannot be considered as an act done in discharge of his official functions or duties.

Such an act is not entitled to get the protection under Section 17A of the Act. The quintessence of the discussion above is that, neither enquiry report nor FIR, is liable to be quashed at the instance of the petitioner,'' the court said.

It said the investigation has revealed that the petitioner has committed an offence punishable under Section 13(1)(c) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The probe agency submitted before the court that it was the Government which ordered the preliminary enquiry and therefore there was no basis for the petitioner's contention that there was no prior official approval.

''As part of the vigilance enquiry, the documents were perused, site inspection conducted and the lab report examined revealed that the work of the Palarivattom Fly over is a substandard one and thereby it caused financial loss to the public exchequer,'' the agency told the court.

The court also dismissed the contention of the IAS officer against theenquiry report of the VACB against him.

''The decision taken by the State Government was to conduct a vigilance enquiry into the irregularities committed in the construction of the Palarivattom Flyover.

The vigilance enquiry was not specially directed against the petitioner or any otherpublic servant.

Therefore, vigilance enquiry report cannot be challenged by the petitioner on the ground that the previous approval given was not for conducting enquiry specifically againstthe petitioner,'' the court observed.

The vigilance is probing the role of certain senior government officials and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader V K Ebrahim Kunju, who was the PWD minister in the Oommen Chandy government, when the bridge was constructed.

The flyover, considered a boon to ease severe traffic snarls at Palarivattom, had to be closed in 2019, within three years of its commissioning after damages like potholes were seen.

It was reconstructed and reopened on March 8 this year.

PTI COR RRT APR ADMINISTRATOR APR ADMINISTRATOR