Illegal acquisition of assets; High Court stays vigilance case against KM Shaji

KOCHI: The FIR registered against Muslim League leader KM Shahji for illegal acquisition of assets has been stayed. The High Court stayed the FIR registered by the vigilance on the complaint of the CPM local leader. The stay is for three months. Earlier, the FIR against Shaji in the Plus Two bribery case was also quashed.

It was on the complaint of local CPM leader and lawyer MR Harish that the Vigilance Court of Kozhikode ordered a preliminary inquiry into the case and register an FIR if found to be true. The complaint was that the house was constructed through illegal acquisition of assets. A vigilance case was registered after the preliminary investigation according to this.

After this, searches were conducted at Shaji's residence, etc. and some amount was also found, but Shaji approached the High Court seeking a stay of this FIR. The court's verdict on this has come now. Shaji also asked the court to stop all legal proceedings pending in the Kozhikode Vigilance Court in connection with the case.

KM Shaji also pointed out in the court that no action had been taken on the application submitted for the return of the amount recovered from his house. It was also stated in the complaint that he was called in several times without giving any notice.