The Kozhikode Corporation will appeal to the Kerala Administrative Tribunal against its recent order to revoke the suspension of two officials, who have been arrested in the building number scam of 2022.
Deputy Mayor C.P. Musafir Ahamed said that the order would be thoroughly reviewed and legal advice would be sought before filing the appeal.
The tribunal issued an interim order on June 13 based on a petition filed by the suspended officials, citing procedural lapses in their suspension. The tribunal directed the civic body to provide section Clerk N.P. Suresh and Clerk M. Anil Kumar, who handled the labour tax section, with all benefits including salary owed during their suspension period, starting from June 27, 2022.
The complainants alleged that according to the Kerala Municipality Act, the decision to suspend should have been made by the Mayor, with implementation by the Secretary. However, in this case, the Secretary made the decision and the Mayor sanctioned it. Additionally, they argued that the suspension of officials should have been approved by the Corporation council, rather than being simply announced during a council meeting.
They also complained that they were neither served a show-cause notice nor were their explanations sought before the suspension. The tribunal highlighted that their explanations should have been presented before the council to seek its approval. The Corporation also did not inform the Department of Local Administration, which appointed the officials, about their suspension.
The building number scam involved the misuse of login details of employees in the Sanchaya building tax assessment software used in the revenue section of the Corporation. These details were leaked to assign numbers to unauthorised buildings, including some that were deemed unfit. It came to light on June 18, 2022, resulting in the arrest of two Corporation officials and five mediators.
The internal investigation by the civic body revealed that 195 buildings were assigned numbers through this method. Twelve cases were registered at the Kozhikode Town police Station in connection with the scam. The investigation initially handled by the Town police was later transferred to the Crime Branch and is currently under the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau. However, there has been no progress in the case since the initial arrests.