New Delhi: The two-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by T K Thakur has come down heavily on chief minister Oommen Chandy in the palmolein case and observed, would it not be right for a well known agency like the CBI to probe the case. The court flayed Chandy when it was hearing a petition filed by opposition leader V S Achuthanandhan wanting to make Chandy an accused and demanded a special probe. The court asked senior counsel V Giri, representing Kerala, whether justice would be done if the case is probed by a police team coming under the chief minister. The court also asked if the chief minister had withdrawn the case for his personal gains?

The Congress government had decided to withdraw the palmolein import case last year and this was petitioned by opposition leader V S Achuthanandhan who moved the HC. The govt had imported palmolein with the knowledge of Oommen Chandy when Chandy was the finance minister and hence his role should be probed, VS said. But the HC rejected VS plea and subsequently he approached the Supreme Court. Adv Satish appeared for VS. Last May, the SC had sought more details on the case and had also given more time for VS to fetch the details.