The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed petitions filed by the Kerala Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to revive bribery and money laundering cases against Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader and former MLA KM Shaji.
A bench comprising Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih upheld the Kerala High Court’s earlier rulings quashing the cases.
The Court said, ‘If we allow this, any politician can be roped in’.
The allegations centred on claims that Shaji accepted a bribe of ₹25 lakhs from the manager of Azhikode Higher Secondary School, Kannur, for sanctioning a Plus Two course during 2014–15. A money laundering case was filed on the basis of bribery accusations.
After reviewing the evidence, including statements from 54 witnesses, the Court found no direct link between Shaji and the alleged bribery.
Justice Oka noted, “Not a single witness says that the demand was made in his presence and money was paid to him. All hearsay that somebody else told me that money was demanded. Not a whisper about the demand made by the respondent.”
He further remarked, “If we allow this, any politician can be roped in.”
The petitioners argued for allowing the investigation to proceed, emphasizing that allegations of political motive or rivalry should not interrupt ongoing probes.
However, the Court rejected this plea, concluding there was no substantive evidence to justify the cases.
On April 13, 2023, the Kerala High Court, through Justice Kauser Edappagath, quashed the FIR filed by the VACB, citing an absence of prima facie evidence of Shaji demanding or accepting a bribe.
Subsequently, on June 19, 2023, Justice PV Kunhikrishnan quashed the ED’s proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The High Court referenced the Supreme Court’s judgment in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary v. Union of India, which clarified that PMLA cases cannot proceed independently if the predicate offence is quashed.
