Liquor worth Rs 27.92 lakh stolen from BEVCO: Case cannot be dismissed just by paying the price, says High Court

KOCHI: The High Court has said that the vigilance case will not be dismissed even if the price of the stolen liquor is repaid. Justice A Badharudeen made this clear while dismissing the petition filed by the accused employees in the case of theft of liquor worth Rs 27.92 lakh from BEVCO's Muvattupuzha outlet. The accused should face trial. A case was registered against employees PN Suresh Kumar, R Sreerag, KP Praseed, Mathew Jacob, KJ Thomas and KT Deepumon after a shortage in the stock of liquor was found. The irregularities occurred between April and July 2018.

The defendants argued that the case should be quashed since the amount had been repaid. They also pointed out that there was a circular requiring employees to pay the amount if there was a shortage in stock. This circular was later quashed by the High Court. The defendants also stated that the amount had been repaid before the High Court order came. Meanwhile, the government and the corporation maintained that the case could not be quashed. The court pointed out that the large amount of shortage could not be seen as unintentional, that the amount was refunded very late, and that interest had not been paid.