Reports suggest that the Pinarayi Vijayan regime spends several crores on judicial commissions. And 1.5 crores spent on legal advice. It is since the first Pinarayi regime took over in 2016. Seven judicial commissions have been appointed since June 2016. And two of them still need to submit a report. Six crores have been spent for the seven judicial commissions appointed. Then comes 1.5 crores spent on legal advice during four years.
The details mentioned above are reported to be the findings of CAG for the period.
The total amount of money spent on the seven judicial commissions is Rs 6,011,11,66. The largest sum is spent on Justice PA Muhammed Commission, Rs 2,77,44,814. The Commission was appointed to enquire into the clashes that took place, in 2016, between the lawyers and the media persons in Kerala High Court.
CAG had reportedly found some anomalies and violations of norms in the purchases and contracts in the police department while Loknath Behra IPS were the State Police Chief (SPC). Then a three-member committee was appointed to formulate criteria for transactions and contracts in the department. Three years now, despite spending Rs 12,36,074, no report has yet been submitted. Justice C N Ramachandran Nair was the chairman of the Commission.
The appointment of Justice CN Mohan Commission was controversial. On May 7, 2021, the Commission was appointed to enquire about central agencies’ activities in connection with the infamous gold smuggling case of 2020. So far, no report has been submitted, and the expense is Rs 83,76,489. The Commission was appointed when the central agencies started interrogating CPM and the LDF Government insiders.
The legal contingent of the State Government consists of a Law Secretary with the rank of a district judge, an Advocate General (AG) and two Additional AGs. Still, the Government depends on legal advice from outside agencies and spends crores on it. Rs 1,47,40,000 was spent, between 2019 and 2022, for legal advice, according to the information the law minister gave in writing on the assembly floor.
The Government has spent Rs 5.50 lakhs for legal advice in connection with the infamous solar case which rocked the Congress-led United Democratic Front government presided by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
Rs 15 lakhs was spent by the Government regarding the controversy pertaining to the appointments of the Vice-Chancellors. Rs 12 crores were spent for bringing top-ranking lawyers from outside, as per the information reportedly spread during the last session of the Assembly.
