Gyanesh Kumar back in spotlight as Kerala reopens PATI-BEL case

For nearly two decades, the PATI-BEL consortium controversy remained one of those Keralam stories that refused to disappear completely. It involved a World Bank-funded road project, allegations of corruption in the state bureaucracy, a Malaysian project manager who returned home under severe financial and professional pressure, and a suicide that subsequently became the subject of national political controversy.

The issue returned to the limelight more recently after CPI(M) leader and former finance minister TM Thomas Isaac revived the PATI-BEL episode following the Indian Express report that raised questions about Gyanesh Kumar’s involvement in the SIR controversy.

Gyanesh Kumar had faced serious allegations

Isaac argued that Kumar had faced serious allegations during his stint in Keralam and was subsequently moved to the Centre in 2006, effectively taking him out of the state-level controversy. He also questioned whether his subsequent rise in the Union government, culminating in his appointment as Chief Election Commissioner, reflected a career protected and later rewarded by successive central governments, including the Narendra Modi government.

"When the VS government came to power in 2006, he was the PWD Secretary. Before the end of that year, he was removed from the department following allegations of corruption, and a Vigilance inquiry was announced. Within a few months, he moved to the Central Defence Services under the AK Antony government.

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So why was action taken against him? In November that year, Lee Bin Seen, an engineer who was in charge of the Keralam operations of the Malaysian company PATI-BEL, which had undertaken part of the road projects under the World Bank-funded Kerala State Transport Project, died by suicide in Kuala Lumpur.

In his suicide note, Lee had reportedly detailed allegations of corruption and mismanagement involving PWD officials in Keralam. Gyanesh Kumar was among the senior officials prominently named in the note. The note also reportedly alleged that bribes had been demanded. It was following these allegations that the Vigilance inquiry and Kumar’s transfer were ordered," Issac wrote in his Facebook note dated September 25.

Now, the case has acquired an unexpected new significance.

Detailed inquiry ordered

The UDF government has ordered a fresh vigilance inquiry into the allegations linked to the PATI-BEL contract, bringing into focus Gyanesh Kumar, who was the Public Works Secretary when the controversy erupted and is today the Chief Election Commissioner of India.

The decision, taken on the directions of Keralam Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, follows a fresh complaint submitted by Malayinkeezhu Venugopal, a local Congress leader. The move comes at a politically sensitive moment, when Gyanesh Kumar is already facing a campaign by opposition parties questioning his role and credibility.

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"Gyanesh Kumar’s name had figured in the suicide notes left by the Malaysian engineer for his wife and the company director. The Vigilance department had examined the matter in 2006, but the probe did not proceed further, though Kumar was transferred out of the PWD. I have now received a fresh complaint. After discussing the matter with Chief Minister VD Satheesan, we decided to order a detailed inquiry," Ramesh Chennithala told the media.

For the UDF government, therefore, the decision to reopen an old controversy carries implications far beyond the original road contract. It gives the government an opportunity to bring a two-decade-old allegation back into the public domain while also responding to growing political pressure around the Election Commission.

PATI-BEL episode

The PATI-BEL controversy dates back to the Kerala State Transport Project, under which the state undertook the development of 127 kms of the MC Road with World Bank assistance. The contract, worth around Rs 215 crore, was awarded to PATI-BEL, a consortium formed by Malaysian company Pati and Kochi-based Bhageeratha Engineering.

The project was originally scheduled for completion by December 2005. But delays in land acquisition by the government affected the progress of the work. Even after the deadline was extended to May 2006, the project could not be completed as scheduled.

The government subsequently withheld bills amounting to around Rs 17 crore.

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For the consortium, the consequences were serious. The company had reportedly accumulated liabilities of around Rs 12 crore to various agencies. Its Keralam project manager, Lee Bin Seen, came under increasing pressure as efforts to secure the pending payments failed. Lee eventually returned to Kuala Lumpur. He was later found hanging from an iron bridge at Subang Ria Park in Malaysia.

Police recovered two suicide notes, one addressed to his wife and the other to his company chief Ross Lee. Reports at the time said the notes contained details of the difficulties Lee had faced in Keralam and allegations concerning corruption in the state bureaucracy.

One allegation attributed to Lee became particularly controversial. He had reportedly told friends that a senior government official had told him, “This is Keralam. There are certain ways to get a bill cleared.”

Political controversy

The circumstances surrounding the suicide and the allegations in the notes triggered considerable political controversy in Keralam. Questions were raised about the functioning of the Public Works Department and the manner in which contractors and companies were dealing with the state bureaucracy.

Gyanesh Kumar, then Public Works Secretary, came under scrutiny in connection with the allegations. When the VS Achuthanandan government came to power in 2006, Kumar was removed from the post. A preliminary vigilance inquiry was also conducted into the allegations.

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But the matter did not proceed much further to a definitive conclusion and Gyanesh Kumar subsequently went on central deputation in 2016 and continued his career in the Union government, eventually becoming the Chief Election Commissioner.

That old chapter is now being reopened.

National relevance

The significance of the decision lies partly in the person at the centre of the controversy. An allegation that might otherwise have remained a footnote in an old PWD controversy has acquired national relevance because Gyanesh Kumar now heads the country's election machinery.

The UDF government's move also comes against the backdrop of an increasingly visible political campaign against the Election Commission and Gyanesh Kumar, with the Left parties grabbing the opportunity and their campaign in Delhi gaining momentum.

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The fresh vigilance probe in Keralam allows the UDF and Congress to enter that contest from another direction.

The immediate political question is not whether the old allegations are true. That is precisely what a fresh investigation would have to establish. The more immediate question is why a controversy that had remained dormant for years has suddenly returned to the political centre stage.

Who gets credit for reviving old case?

For the Left, the argument is likely to be that the controversy surrounding Gyanesh Kumar did not begin with the present political confrontation. It has a history in Keralam, stretching back to his tenure as Public Works Secretary and the PATI-BEL contract. On the other hand, the reopening of the vigilance inquiry could strengthen the UDF's attempt to present it as following up a dormant case that the Left government in 2006 could not pursue successfully.

The PATI-BEL controversy has returned at a moment when Gyanesh Kumar is already a politically contested figure. The UDF government's decision has consequently revived not just an old Keralam corruption allegation but also an old political memory.