With his leave period set to end on Tuesday, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau chief Jacob Thomas has requested that his leave be extended by a month. On March 31, the government had asked him to go on leave.
At present, DGP Loknath Behra is bearing additional charge of the VACB.
The government was forced to ask Jacob Thomas to go on leave after the High Court flayed him on a petition filed by an industrialist, seeking to quash the Vigilance FIR against him.
The High Court on March 29 had asked the government why Jacob Thomas was not removed from the post as VACB was interfering in matters that come under the purview of the judiciary and legislature.
There were also reports that he had violated service rules as he has been holding property without revealing it in the latest disclosure of assets. IAS officials also complained against him for allegedly implicating them in fabricated cases.
Jacob Thomas is a self-proclaimed crusader against corruption and is in the good books of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
The 1985 batch IPS officer didn’t have a cordial relation with the previous United Democratic Front government. In November last year, he had said that he wanted to quit when allegations surfaced that he was responsible for financial irregularities while being in the post of Port Director.
When he was asked to go on leave, rumours were abuzz that he was removed from the post. The decision came as a surprise to many as the LDF government had made Jacob Thomas the VACB chief just days after assuming office in May last year.