Life Mission project site, High Court | Photo: Mathrubhumi
Kochi: The high court issued an interim stay order on the CBI probe into the Life Mission project in Wadakkancherry. The stay will be valid for two months. The order was issued by Justice V G Arun.
Life Mission CEO U V Jose filed the plea requesting to quash the FIR registered by the CBI regarding the Life Mission project in Wadakkancherry. He argued that the FIR mentioning that Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act was violated is legally invalid.
The CBI had filed an FIR in a Kochi court under Section 120 B of the IPC and Section 35 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 on a complaint by Wadakancherry MLA Anil Akkara, listing Santosh Eappen, Managing Director of Unitac Builder, Kochi, as the first accused and Sane Ventures as the second accused.
The Life Mission CEO in his petition submitted that the FIR was "illegal, arbitrary and nothing but an abuse of the process of law and is, therefore, liable to be quashed."
The Life Mission officials also alleged that the Life Mission was dragged into the case. However, the CBI alleged that an underworld transaction took place under the guise of the project and the accused in gold smuggling case also are involved in the same.
A senior advocate of the Supreme Court appeared for Life Mission. The plea was deferred after hearing the arguments of Unitac Builders which signed the contract for construction and MLA Anil Akkara who filed the complaint to the CBI.
Unitac also had approached the court requesting to cancel the case. Meanwhile, a journalist named Michael Varghese from Alappuzha approached the high court questioning the petition filed by the Life Mission authorities.
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