The Kerala High Court has asked the Investigating Officer to carry out a fair investigation in the Karuvannoor Service Co-operative Bank scam case and warned the Officer against acting under political or bureaucratic pressure.

The Petition before the High Court sought a direction to the second Respondent, the Director General of Police, to place on record the status of the investigation in the matter.

The Single Bench of Justice D K Singh ordered, “The investigating officer is warned against coming under pressure from any political or bureaucratic quarters. He is expected to carry out the investigation in a fair manner without being influenced or coming under any pressure from anywhere. If this court finds that the investigation has not been carried out properly and the roles of the political activists have not been investigated fairly, the investigating officer will bear the brunt for his dereliction of duty.”

Advocate G. Sreekumar Chelur represented the Petitioner while Addl. Public Prosecutor P. Narayanan represented the Respondent.

The Deputy Superintendent of Police, who is the Investigating Officer, informed the High Court that the final report had been submitted in the court concerned. It was brought to the Court’s notice that investigation is taking place at high speed and report in relation to the other nineteen crimes registered in respect of the financial fraud committed in the Karuvannoor Service Co-operative Bank scam shall be submitted within 3 months.

The Court ordered, “The Investigating Officer is directed to investigate the role of all accused, who had been named by the Enforcement Directorate in the ECIR filed by them. The investigating officer may collect the affidavit and copy of the ECIR from Mr. Jayashankar, the learned counsel representing the Enforcement Directorate.”

The Bench further passed a direction for carrying out fair investigation. “This court, therefore, hopes and trusts that the investigating officer will carry out the investigation in a proper and fair manner as expected from him being the officer of the police force”, it concluded.

The matter has now been posted on July 2, 2025.

Cause Title: Suresh M.V. v. State Of Kerala (Case No.: WP(C) NO. 15762 OF 2021)

Appearance:

Petitioner: Advocate G. Sreekumar Chelur

Respondent: Director General of Prosecution, Addl.Public Prosecutor P. Narayanan, M/S.N.Raghuraj & Sayujya, Deputy Solicitor General of India, Advocate Jayasankar V. Nair

Click here to read/download Order


Kerala High CourtJustice DK Singh

Tulip Kanth

Assistant Editor

Tulip Kanth is an Assistant Editor at Verdictum having over 5 years of experience in the field of legal journalism and editing. She extensively covers judgments of the Supreme Court, High Courts as well as Tribunals. She has previously worked with a legal publishing website where she oversaw the work of other editors and has also created updates on notifications of different Government Ministries. She holds an English Honours Degree from SGTB Khalsa College, Delhi University and has completed her LLB course with specialisation in Corporate Law from Amity University.