On 11 April, the Kerala High Court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate an inconsistent assertion case against Abraham CEO Abraham.
The High Court order was based on a petition filed by activist Joman Puthenpurkal, who alleged that Abraham had received money from known sources of his income during his tenure as Additional Chief Secretary of Kerala in 2015.
Abraham said that it was a case of personal vengeance.
However, two days after the CBI started the investigation, the Supreme Court stayed at the High Court order. Abraham alleged in an argument that proceedings were initiated from the state government without necessary sanctions.
Who is really KM Abraham? ThePrint spoke to officials associated with the bureaucracy of the state, so that the man can get more information about W.They are said to have created both powerful enemies and strong patrons.
A retired IAS officer said, “There are only a few bureaucrats, which are equally hardworking.
The contemporary official of Abraham said that officials like him said, “honest” and “with integrity”, are rare.
Other officials also said that Abraham’s term is mostly considered “straight” among the bureaucracy of the state.
Abraham, who worked in major departments including finance and higher education, retired as the Chief Secretary of the state in 2017. After the post, he was appointed Chief Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and was given a cabinet status in February last year.
The official said that due to his contribution to the state’s administrative system, the cabinet status was given to Abraham, not due to the interests of the Chief Minister.
“By the time he became the Chief Secretary, the CM never liked him, even as a Finance Secretary or even during his tenure as a person. He (Abraham) never compromised his principles. But once he became a CS, CM understood how he works for the state and how he works,” he said.
However, Abraham is also not new to the controversy.
In 2016, based on the complaint of Puthanpurkal, the Anti -Vigilance and Anti -Corruption Bureau (VACB) launched an investigation into an inconsistent assertion case in Abraham.
However, Abraham has so far accused the individual Vendetta, so far retired IPS officer Thomas Jacob, who was the director of VACB at that time. Chief Minister and then Finance Minister Thomas Isaac supported Abraham. Vigilance shut down the case in 2017.
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No your specific pen-mushing civil servant
Abraham, an IAS officer of the 1982 batch, is also known for its educational activities in the state. He has B.Tech in Civil Engineering and M.Tech from IIT Kanpur. He also has a doctorate from the University of Michigan and has a licensed financial analyst (LIFA). In 2016, he received his second degree black belt at Taekwondo.
Abraham’s bureaucratic career began as a sub-sector in Kollam, Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram, after which he served as the District Collector of Ernakulam and Alappuzha.
However, he is known as Finance Secretary between 1996 and 2002 for his policy-making decisions, where he earned a reputation to be the mastermind behind the ambitious modernization government program (MGP), aimed at restructuring Kerala’s administrative machinery.
Nashed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), MGP aims to improve administration and finance for better governance in the state. The scheme was implemented in 2002 under the UDF AK Antony government.
According to media reports, the state government acquired $ 250 million in funding from ADB for the program. However, the move criticized opposition parties and activists, who argued that foreign money could open the door for personal participation in public administration.
After much opposition, the program was injured in 2008.
“The program had many positive objectives to improve and strengthen the administrative system. But it did not get political ownership in any way. He (Abraham) was disillusioned about it,” T said.He retired the IAS officer quoted above. “The state eventually had to fly to the program. But even today, many departments are using some components of the initiative to recreate their departments without using the tag of MGP.”
Another major initiative led by Abraham during the same period was the establishment of Kiifb under the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Act 1999, which was during the tenure of a Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Although the body was not functional for decades, it passed through a structural overhaul through an amendment during the first Pinarayi government in 2016, which served it as a powerful body as a major arm of the Kerala government for large -scale infrastructure investment.
As the primary branch of the state to collect funds for large -scale infrastructure works, KiifB mainly made for the government to raise money by government with arrangements with loan equipment such as general obligation bonds, alternative investment funds (AIF), infrastructure date funds (IDF), revenue bonds, land bonds, land bonds and banks or other international institutions.
But the board came for serious criticism from the opposition in the state State liability Because its income did not have its own sources.
“The results of their initiative are quite mixed bags. Most officials feel that they are associated with many forward-loving, but equally risky, policy initiatives. If you take the state’s gross financial indicators during the years that they affect the finance of the state, no one can see any qualitative reforms,” B. Ashok, Chairman of Kerala IAS officials B. Ashok said.
“Many people will describe it as a period when the finance of the state usually deteriorates. Kiifb is pulling very mixed reactions again. There is no unequal support for what he has done. He is one of our better officers. Not an icon, not even a completely pedestrian.”
Kerala passed through its worst financial crisis from 1998-2001 due to high revenue deficit, excessive expenditure and lack of revenue raising.
Abraham’s big break outside Kerala came when he became a full -time member in the country’s Financial Sentinel, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in 2008 after various terms as Secretaries in Higher Education, Revenue and Food and Civil Supplies, and in personnel and administrative reforms departments.
It was during his tenure in SEBI that Abraham played an important role in bringing the Sahara Group scam to light.
Their investigation revealed that two companies associated with the Sahara Group – Sarah India Real Estate Corporation Limited (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation (SHICL) – Alternatively fully raising money through convertible debenture (OFCD), but disturbed it as a private placement. OFCD is a debt instrument that allows the investor to convert debentures into equity shares at the later stage.
Abraham found that companies did not keep the records of investors, increasing the large amounts. Although the Sahara Group challenged SEBI’s findings, the Supreme Court upheld SEBI’s findings along with the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT).
A former officer, who was working with the VS Achuthanandan government, said that the decision to deput Abraham in SEBI was due to political differences, Achuthanandan was with the civil servant.
“Abraham run the MGP in the state. We understood that they have not only administrationed the program. When there is a change in a government, these banks insist that the officer should not be replaced by the program. A leftist government run by VS cannot appreciate such an official,” said the official.
At the time when Kerala was ruled by Communist leader vs Achuthanandan, it was the only time when Abraham was away from the kingdom.
The official said that the bureaucracy considered Abraham as an “honest” officer, but said that his last lap in the bureaucracy did not justify his first principles, as he had chosen to live with the state administration even after the end of his tenure.
Current case
The latest controversy stems from allegations that Abraham acquired the property, including a commercial complex in Kollam and property in Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram, which is inconsistent to his income.
Questioning the credibility of the investigation by VACB, which falls under the state’s Home Department, where Abraham is appointed in a cabinet rank, Puthanpurkal demanded a CBI inquiry into the investigation.
He alleged that Abraham did not disclose the source of income for the construction of a multi-storey shopping complex in Kollam district, while collecting assets worth Rs 1 crore in Thiruvananthapuram and Rs 3 crore in Mumbai. He claimed that repayment obligations for these assets crossed the known sources of Abraham’s income.
The petitioner also alleged that Abraham did not record his financial statements for six years before 2015, as is required under All India Service Rules, 2005.
The Kerala High Court allowed the CBI to handle the investigation, stating that the investigation would maintain public confidence for a fair investigation in the matter.
The civil servant alleged that Putinpurkal was working out of personal enmity as he had taken action against the worker to misuse the PWD rest house in the past.
Abraham did not answer Diprin’s questions on the matter.
Amid increasing pressure to withdraw from his post as CEO of Kiifb, Abraham also got support from the state.
While Abraham said that the Chief Minister will decide his future, Pinarayi Vijayan said that the government will take necessary measures at the right time. He said that the government is currently waiting because Abraham has taken legal measures to fight against him.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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