Supreme Court Stays Kerala HC's Direction For CBI Probe Against CM's Chief Principal Secretary KM Abraham In DA Case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (April 30) stayed the Kerala High Court's direction to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register an FIR against K.M. Abraham, the Chief Principal Secretary to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, over allegations of amassing assets disproportionate to his income.

A bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Manmohan passed the interim order while issuing notice to the CBI, the State and Jomon Puthenpurackal (petitioner before the High Court) on a Special Leave Petition filed by Abraham. Senior Advocate R Basant, for Abraham, argued that FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act cannot be registered without sanction under Section 17A of the Act. It was pointed out that the issue regarding the need for sanction when a Court has directed investigation is pending in a reference before the larger bench. Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta, for the State, submitted that prior sanction is necessary to register FIR.

Advocate MR Abhilash, appearing for Jomon on caveat, informed the bench that the CBI has already registered the FIR and contended that the investigation cannot be challenged by the accused once the FIR has been registered based on the court order.

Justice K Babu of the High Court had issued the direction on April 11 while allowing a petition filed by activist Jomon Puthenpurackal. The petition had challenged an order of the Vigilance Court, passed in 2017, that accepted a closure report filed by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau in the matter. Setting aside the Vigilance Court's acceptance of the closure report, the High Court had directed that the investigation be handed over to the CBI.

The High Court observed that the Vigilance Judge, "in a casual and perfunctory manner, blindly accepted the quick verification report and came to the conclusion that no cognizable offence under the PC Act had been revealed and rejected the complaint at the threshold."

The High Court directed the Superintendent of Police, Central Bureau of Investigation, Kochi Unit to register an FIR against Abraham based on the complaint, statement of Jomon Puthenpurackal, information made available in the preliminary enquiry report and other relevant materials.

It was alleged that while serving as the Additional Chief Secretary of the Financial Department, Abraham acquired wealth disproportionate to his income.

Abraham is currently serving as the Chief Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and is the CEO of Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB).

 Senior Advocate R Basant instructed by G Prakash AOR and S Chandrasekharan Nair, appeared for the petitioner.

Case : K.M. ABRAHAM VS. JOMON PUTHENPURACKAL | DIARY NO. - 22248/2025

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