Kerala High Court Directs Vigilance Bureau To Examine Corruption Allegations In Paddy Procurement Scheme
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday (18 August) has directed the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to consider a complaint alleging corruption and irregularities in the State's Decentralised Paddy Procurement Scheme (DCP) and take action in accordance with law if it finds substance in the allegations.A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V. M....
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday (18 August) has directed the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to consider a complaint alleging corruption and irregularities in the State's Decentralised Paddy Procurement Scheme (DCP) and take action in accordance with law if it finds substance in the allegations.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V. M. passed the order in a public interest litigation filed by a practicing advocate against the State of Kerala and others.
The petitioner alleged corruption in Kerala's public distribution system and claimed that, over the past two years, a lobby involving certain private rice mill owners and officials had systematically undermined the DCP scheme. The scheme is intended to procure paddy from registered farmers and have it converted into Custom Milled Rice (CMR) for distribution through the public distribution system.
The petition relied, among other things, on data concerning paddy allocations available on the Supplyco Paddy website for the 2024-25 allocation period and data relating to two mills for 2025-26. According to the petitioner, the material indicated that certain mills had been favoured contrary to the procurement policy. The petitioner had also submitted a representation to the Director of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau in Thiruvananthapuram.
The petitioner has submitted in the petition that action had been initiated against ten other rice mills for failing to deliver the required quantity of Custom Milled Rice. During the proceedings, counsel for Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco) submitted that action had already been initiated against rice mills known to the petitioner as it has been mentioned in the petition.
In view of the action already initiated, the Bench directed the VACB to examine the complaint and, if it finds a basis for the allegations, proceed in accordance with law. The court also directed the third respondent, Supplyco to continue taking action against persons or rice mills found to have violated the norms and guidelines governing the DCP scheme.
The court has posted the matter for September 30, 2026, and directed that a statement on compliance with its order be filed.
Case Title: Adv. Arjun V.S v State of Kerala
Case No: WP(PIL) 168/ 2026
Counsel for Petitioner: T.A. Unnikrishnan, Arjun Varma, T. Sreelakshmi Unnikrishnan, Rohith R, Bhagyalakshmi P.S
Counsel for Respondents: Molly Jacob, Biju Meenattoor