Cashew import scam: State reserves right to appeal after granting prosecution sanction

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The State government has filed an affidavit before the Kerala High Court stating that it had granted sanction for the CBI to prosecute two former officials in connection with the alleged ₹600-crore irregularities in the import of raw cashew, while reserving its right to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The State decided to grant sanction to prosecute R. Chandrasekharan and K.A. Ratheesh, the former chairperson and managing director, respectively, of the Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation, following a High Court order in a contempt of court petition filed by Kadakampally Manoj of Kollam. 

He had sought to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the Principal Secretary, Industries, A.P.M. Mohammad Hanish, after his refusal to grant sanction in the matter, and for allegedly not adhering to a High Court order in this regard in October 2025.

On July 2, the State had issued the sanction order, stating that the High Court had assumed the role of a trial court in the contempt proceedings and that the State was coerced into granting the sanction order. However, in the revised order issued on July 6, the State has only reserved its right to appeal.

Meanwhile, an application was filed before the court on July 4 to initiate contempt proceedings against K. Biju, the new government secretary in charge of the Cashew Development department. Mr. Biju had earlier granted sanction for the CBI to prosecute the two former officials. The plea, filed in the contempt petition, alleged that the sanction order passed by Mr. Biju was worded in favour of the accused, and requested the court to set aside the order and initiate contempt proceedings against him.