HC orders CBI probe against CM's chief principal secretary over illegal wealth

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has ordered a CBI probe against former chief secretary K M Abraham. The order was on the plea filed by Jomon Puthenpurackal seeking an investigation into a complaint that he had amassed wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income. K M Abraham is presently chief principal secretary to the chief minister and CEO of KIIFB.

In 2015, Jomon had approached the chief minister alleging that K M Abraham had amassed wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income. However, he approached the high court after no further action was taken in the matter. A detailed hearing was held in the high court. The petitioner said Abraham had amassed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income when he was additional chief secretary in the finance department in 2015.

Abraham is paying more than his salary as loan. The court asked Abraham how is that possible. He replied that his parents were college teachers and is paying all these loans using their pension money. However, Abraham's parents had died years ago. The question then was how he is receiving their pension.

He is paying loans for the flat he bought for Rs 3 crore in Mumbai, another flat worth Rs one crore at Vazhuthacaud in Thiruvananthapuram and a building worth Rs 8 crore in Kollam, monthly. According to the Civil Service Act, Abraham, who has 33 years of service, is required to file an asset declaration every year. However, he did not comply with that. After detailed arguments, the court left the case to the CBI Kochi unit.