Now Reading: Kerala HC allows pleas against cashew import scam prosecution sanction
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Kerala HC allows pleas against cashew import scam prosecution sanction
The Kerala High Court has allowed petitions by former Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation chairperson R. Chandrasekharan and former managing director K.A. Ratheesh challenging a court order that directed the state to…
The Kerala High Court has allowed petitions by former Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation chairperson R. Chandrasekharan and former managing director K.A. Ratheesh challenging a court order that directed the state to reconsider sanction for their prosecution in a cashew import scam case. A Division Bench of Justices K. Natarajan and Johnson John found merit in their contention that they were not given a hearing before the earlier order was passed.
A Single Bench had earlier directed the state to reconsider sanction while hearing a contempt petition filed by Kadakampally Manoj. The sanction to prosecute the two officials had been refused three times before it was granted to the Central Bureau of Investigation on July 6. The CBI had sought sanction in its investigation into alleged misappropriation in raw cashew imports by the corporation between 2006 and 2015.
After the grant of sanction, the CBI informed the court that charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act had been added to the chargesheet, alongside earlier charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The Hindu's report is a neutral, court-procedure account that leads with the High Court's decision to allow the petitions on procedural grounds. It emphasises that the petitioners were denied a hearing, which is the legal basis for the order. There is no government-critical or sensationalist framing, the piece simply tracks the judicial sequence. The key takeaway is that the legal battle is not over: the sanction has already been granted, but the procedural challenge has succeeded. Watch for the next hearing date, which will determine whether the prosecution proceeds or is stalled further.
Coverage: 1 source, 1 neutral
Source: thehindu.com (neutral report)
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
