Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has come under further legal pressure following an order by Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala for a vigilance inquiry into alleged administrative irregularities during Kumar's tenure as Public Works Department secretary.
The case pertains to the 2006 suicide of Malaysian civil engineer Lee See Been, who was associated with the Indo-Malaysian Joint Venture PATI-BEL.
The consortium was involved in the upgrade of MC Road - a 240-kilometre-long state highway connecting Thiruvananthapuram to Angamaly – under the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP).
Chennithala alleged that a note left behind by former PATI-BEL chief project manager Been directly mentioned Kumar, who was then posted with the Kerala PWD.
The case was reopened following allegations that the original enquiry was deliberately derailed. A new complaint was filed by Congress leader Malayankeezhu Venugopal seeking a thorough investigation into the case.
This development comes amid statewide protests by the Congress, other opposition parties, the Cockroach Janta Party, student unions, and activists seeking the resignation of the CEC over the alleged irregularities related to SIR of voter rolls.
The Home Ministry has directly instructed the director of Kerala's Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to conduct a thorough probe into allegations of external influence in the case.
The probe body has been asked to take appropriate action based on the findings.
The allegations against Gyanesh Kumar include criminal misconduct in awarding public works to contractors while he was PWD Secretary.
The VACB had earlier conducted enquiries and, according to the complaint, these were closed abruptly.
Following Been's death, a Vigilance probe was ordered in 2006. However, the probe did not proceed further, and Kumar moved to the Defence Ministry on deputation.
While referring to the case, Chennithala on Sunday said that Kumar's name in Been's suicide note cannot be left aside. "I cannot be a mute spectator," he said.
What happened to Lee See Been?
Been was a Malaysian civil engineer who served as the chief project manager for the PATI-BEL consortium—a joint venture executing the World Bank-funded Main Central (MC) Road upgrade project under the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP).
He died by suicide in 2006 after returning to Malaysia, leaving behind suicide notes that triggered a major political and administrative storm in Kerala.
Before taking his life, Lee left behind suicide notes alleging systemic harassment and corruption by senior state officials.
The PATI-BEL consortium faced severe project delays and bureaucracy while executing the ₹215-crore MC Road project from Angamaly to Thiruvananthapuram. The Kerala government reportedly withheld fund disbursements and pending bills, leaving the firm unable to pay local sub-contractors, suppliers, and workers.
