Kerala High Court Disposes Of Plea Seeking CBI Probe Into Alleged Karuvannur Bank Scam, Notes Ongoing Proceedings Before Trial Courts

The Kerala High Court has disposed of the writ petition that sought investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the Karavannur Bank Scam case.The writ petition was filed by a former employee of the bank seeking a CBI investigation into the alleged 100-crore bank fraud uncovered in Thrissur's Karuvannur Co-operative Bank. The petitioner sought CBI investigation as many people involved in the alleged fraud belonged to CPI(M) party, a faction of the ruling front LDF. The scam is being currently investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as well.Earlier, there was a detailed order passed by the Court directing the investigating officer to investigate the role of all the accused persons who were named by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the ECIR filed. There was also a direction to the investigating officer to collect the affidavit and copy of the ECIR from the Standing Counsel for the ED. Today, when the matter came up, Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan noted that the case has been pending before the Court since 2021 and that it cannot be retained indefinitely. The Public Prosecutor informed the Court about the present status of the investigation. As per the submission, there were one main case and twenty-one other cases relating to the Karavannur Bank Scam. It was further submitted that in the main case, two split charges had already been filed. According to the public prosecutor, out of the 21 other cases, chargesheet has already been filed in 10 cases and in the balance 11 cases, investigation is almost complete and the investigating officer is awaiting forensic reports on certain documents.Taking note of the above submission made by the Public Prosecutor and the fact that status report of the investigation is being filed regularly, the Court was of the opinion it need for look into the correctness of the investigation being conducted.The Court also observed that in the earlier order, there was already a direction to the Investigating Agency to conduct the investigation against all accused and bring them to court of law for trial.Noting that the final reports in the case are pending before the jurisdictional courts, the Court held that the petitioner may approach the jurisdictional courts to address any grievance if law permits for the same. The Court further observed, “I make it clear the Investigating Officer will do the needful to see that the real culprits are brought before the Court of law for trial.”With the above observations, the writ petition was disposed of.Case Title: Suresh M. V. v. State of Kerala and OthersCase No: WP(C) No. 15762 of 2021Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Ker) 377

Kerala High Court Disposes Of Plea Seeking CBI Probe Into Alleged Karuvannur Bank Scam, Notes Ongoing Proceedings Before Trial Courts

K. Salma Jennath

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