Kerala’s former transport minister slapped with Rs 25,000 fine for wasting court's valuable time

Kochi: The Kerala high court on February 5 imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on former transport minister Thomas Chandy. The court crtiticised Chandy for wasting the court’s valuable time in a hearing of a case regarding encroachment and illegal construction of a road.

The court ordered him to pay the fine within ten days while granting him permission to withdraw his appeal to cancel the FIR lodged against him.

Earlier, the Kottayam vigilance court had ordered a probe into the FIR registered against Thomas Chandy and other officials for the alleged illegal construction of a road over a paddy field leading up to Lake Palace Resort in Alappuzha, which Chandy owns. 

Investigations were ongoing and the case was in court for over six months when Chandy filed a plea seeking its withdrawal. As per reports, four government officials along with Chandy filed the plea.