No chargesheets yet in CSR funds scam cases

Chargesheets in the CSR funds scam, in which over 1,600 cases have been registered across different parts of the State, are being delayed, with the police failing to submit them by October as planned earlier.

In September, the police had said that the chargesheets were being prepared following instructions from Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) H. Venkatesh, who heads the Crime Branch, to file them without delay. Top police sources, however, cited due diligence as the reason for the delay.

“Hundreds of cases have been registered over similar offences, and the evidence collected is applicable to all of them. Even a minor lapse in any of the chargesheets can adversely affect the rest of the cases. We need to ensure uniformity in the chargesheets to avoid loopholes during trial. This requires proper coordination among the investigating officers,” said a Crime Branch official involved in the probe. The officer emphasised the need to establish the chain of evidence in all cases with consistency.

A meeting of the heads of the Crime Branch units involved in the investigation is planned before November 10 to discuss the matter, it is learnt. Two meetings of the officers concerned have already been held. The police have not yet fixed a time frame to complete the procedures.

The police have invoked the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes (BUDS) Act, 2019, in all the cases registered in connection with the scam, after finding that the accused had no licence to raise funds from the complainants.

The cases relate to the accused allegedly cheating scores of people by falsely promising scooters, laptops, and sewing machines at half the price using fake CSR funds. Prime accused Ananthu Krishnan and second accused K.N. Ananda Kumar, chairman, National NGO Confederation, have been in judicial custody for several months following their arrest after a spate of complaints.

According to a reply given by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the Assembly, the accused had collected ₹281.43 crore from 49,386 people, promising to provide them with two-wheelers at half the cost. Of them, two-wheelers were supplied to only 16,438 people. Similarly, out of 36,891 people from whom the accused had collected ₹9.22 crore, promising laptops at half price, only 29,897 received them. In another instance, ₹23.24 crore was collected from 56,082 people for sewing machines under a similar scheme, but only 53,478 received them.

Forums of complainants have already raised concerns over the delay in filing the chargesheets and the government’s failure to appoint a replacement for senior officer M.J. Sojan, who was transferred while heading the special investigation team probing the scam.