Thiruvananthapuram, October 6, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Kerala government’s decision to reopen a nearly two-decade-old alleged corruption case involving Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has put the state Vigilance Department on a politically sensitive path, given Kumar’s current position as the head of the Election Commission of India.
The case relates to allegations surrounding the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) road project, dating back to the suicide of Malaysian engineer Lee See Bin, who was associated with the project as director of Patibel.
Gyanesh Kumar, who was a senior IAS officer at the time, had faced allegations in connection with the project. However, a Vigilance investigation conducted during the V.S. Achuthanandan government was subsequently closed after finding no evidence against him.
The Kerala government has now directed the Vigilance Department to revisit the matter. Vigilance Director Manoj Abraham is leading the process, with officials proceeding cautiously because of the age of the case and the legal and practical challenges involved in retrieving records from the original investigation.
The immediate focus is expected to be on locating files related to the KSTP project, believed to be held in a government office in Thiruvananthapuram. Investigators will also examine whether electronic records from the original probe can still be recovered, with the computers and systems used nearly two decades ago having long exceeded their normal operational life.
The Vigilance team is expected to review statements recorded during the earlier investigation, including those of officials from the General Administration and Finance departments, KSTP and representatives of the company involved in the project. The testimony of the chartered accountant who audited the project could also assume significance.
A sub-committee comprising then Ministers M. Vijayakumar, K.P. Rajendran, T.U. Kuruvilla and Thomas Isaac had earlier examined the allegations. Kuruvilla has since passed away.
The decision has attracted political attention as the Congress-led INDIA bloc has been critical of Kumar over several issues concerning the functioning of the poll panel. The CPI(M), despite its political differences with the Congress in Kerala, has also supported the move to revive the investigation.
For the Vigilance Department, the immediate question is whether the material that can still be retrieved provides sufficient grounds for a fresh investigation. The reopening of the case is therefore being closely watched both as an examination of long-pending allegations and because of Kumar’s present position as the country’s top election official.
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