Published Oct 04, 2026 | 9:43 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 04, 2026 | 9:49 AM
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The Keralam government has ordered a Vigilance inquiry into allegations of corruption against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
The inquiry follows a complaint by Congress leader and close aide to Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, Malayinkeezhu Venugopal.
The allegations relate to Kumar’s tenure as Keralam’s PWD secretary in 2006.
Venugopal told South First that Kumar was involved in irregularities in awarding public works contracts to private entities during his tenure. The complaint also raises questions about the death of Lee Been Seen, a Malaysian national who was the chief project manager of PATI-BEL, an Indo-Malaysian joint venture involved in the MC Road project under the Keralam State Transport Project.
Lee died by suicide in Kuala Lumpur in 2006. According to the complaint, his suicide note reportedly mentioned Kumar’s name and contained allegations of corruption and harassment by PWD officials.
Venugopal has sought an investigation into both the allegations against Kumar and the circumstances surrounding Lee’s death.
He has also alleged that earlier Vigilance enquiries into the matter were closed without properly pursuing the allegations.
The issue had come under scrutiny in 2006, following Lee’s death and the allegations linked to the Keralam State Transport Project. Kumar was reportedly transferred out of the PWD before the end of that year.
However, the earlier enquiry did not reach a conclusive outcome.
The matter has resurfaced nearly two decades later, amid criticism of Kumar over the Election Commission’s handling of the SIR of electoral rolls.
A series in the Malayala Manorama newspaper by their late award-winning reporter G Vinod had probed the many aspects of the MC Road contract allegations and Lee Been Seen’s death.
“It was covered on a big scale. Other news outlets also highlighted it, including Asianet News, as it emerged as a big political story then,” his wife Sindhu Sooryakumar told South First. “I still remember the road work on the MC Road getting halted and Keralam facing many difficulties then,” she said.
The vigilance inquiry ordered back then, however, did not culminate in a publicly established finding of criminal guilt against Kumar.
The current inquiry will also look into whether the earlier Vigilance probe had been derailed or influenced. The Keralam Home Department has obtained files related to the 2006 inquiry.
The allegations against Kumar first surfaced when the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government led by V S Achuthanandan was in power.
(Edited by Fayisa CA)
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