Keralam’s former Industries Secretary, Mohammed Haneesh IAS, has personally apologised before the High Court in connection with the contempt of court proceedings initiated against him. He tendered an unconditional apology through a sworn affidavit before the court on June 22. Last week, the court had ordered his arrest and directed that he be produced before it for failing to comply with its order.
The case came before the Bench of Justice A. Badarudheen. The court asked the senior civil servant, in a sharp tone, whether he was able to read and understand the court order.
Earlier, despite the order being in force, Haneesh had issued two orders denying permission for prosecution. The court asked him why he had acted against its order. It had instructed him to take a decision regarding permission for prosecution before June 10.
Mohammed Haneesh stated before the court that he had been transferred from the department on June 8 and, hence, could not take a decision within the stipulated time.
The contempt petition was filed by Kadakampally Manoj after Haneesh, who still held charge of the Industries Department, failed to comply with the High Court’s direction asking him to reconsider the sanction in the light of its finding that there was prima facie evidence to prosecute the former officials of the Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation (KSCDC).
Though the court had given Haneesh two more opportunities to grant sanction in compliance with its direction, he passed orders denying sanction.
The court then ordered his personal appearance. He challenged the order before the Division Bench and the Supreme Court, but both challenges were dismissed.
The High Court reportedly orally asked him: “Am I right in saying that you are capable of understanding the orders and judgments of this Court? Have you gone through the orders passed by this Court repeatedly? Then why can’t you issue this order considering the directions issued by this Court? Why do you fail to understand what is meant by the orders passed by this Court repeatedly? You repeatedly neglected the directions issued by this Court and formed your own opinion in a biased manner. I don’t know what is the reason for passing such an order.”
The High Court has now directed him to take a final decision and inform it before July 2. If a favourable decision is not taken by then, the government will have to face dire consequences. Mohammed Haneesh’s apology will be considered again by the court on July 2.
R. Chandrasekharan, a leader of the Congress-led INTUC, is one of the accused in the case. The state government has now resolved to grant consent for the prosecution of the accused. The former CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) had denied consent three times. However, the stringent stand taken by the court has resulted in a change of stance by the V.D. Satheeshan government.
There were allegations that both the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), which ruled the state from May 25, 2016, to May 18, 2026, and the presently ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) have maintained the same stand with respect to the cashew scam. That is why Mohammed Haneesh could wait until the court adopted a harsher stand before apologising to the court.
