The Palmolein Oil Import Scam occurred during the year 1991-92 in the state of Kerala. During the scam K. Karunakaran was the chief minister of the state and the ruling party was United Democratic Front. This was his fourth term as chief minister of the state. Former Chief Vigilance Commissioner P J Thomas was the Secretary of Food & Civil Supplies at the time of the scandal.
The scam took place when Kerala government decided to import palm oil from a Malaysian company in Singapore named "Power and Energy Ltd" above the international price which was approved by the Kerala Cabinet. The price of import was fixed to $405 per ton which was higher than the international price of $392.25 per ton. The import order for palmolein oil was signed by Thomas himself, who was then Kerala's Food Secretary. The investigation agency's charge sheet in the case says that this order caused a loss of more than 2.32 cores to the exchequer. The decision by the kerala government was to import 15,000 tonnes of palm oil.
The opposition parties cried foul in the import. A vigilance case was filed against K. Karunakaran and seven others including Thomas. Thomas got bailed in 2003. A Special Leave Petition by the late K. Karunakaran made the Supreme Court put a stay on the proceedings. The court closed the proceedings against K. Karunakaran after his death in December 2010.
The case was reopen in March 2011. In August 2011, Oommen Chandy, the Chief Minister of Kerala, was also added to the re investigation. The court asked the vigilance and anti-corruption bureau to submit its investigation report of the palmolein case by November 10, 2011.
Thomas was removed from the CVC's post by the Supreme Court of India because the court found that "Mr. Thomas was accused No. 8 in the Kerala palmolein case pending in the Court of the Special Judge, Thiruvananthapuram, for offences under Section 13(2) read with 13(1) (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and under Section 120B (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code".
The scam took place when Kerala government decided to import palm oil from a Malaysian company in Singapore named "Power and Energy Ltd" above the international price which was approved by the Kerala Cabinet. The price of import was fixed to $405 per ton which was higher than the international price of $392.25 per ton. The import order for palmolein oil was signed by Thomas himself, who was then Kerala's Food Secretary. The investigation agency's charge sheet in the case says that this order caused a loss of more than 2.32 cores to the exchequer. The decision by the kerala government was to import 15,000 tonnes of palm oil.
The opposition parties cried foul in the import. A vigilance case was filed against K. Karunakaran and seven others including Thomas. Thomas got bailed in 2003. A Special Leave Petition by the late K. Karunakaran made the Supreme Court put a stay on the proceedings. The court closed the proceedings against K. Karunakaran after his death in December 2010.
The case was reopen in March 2011. In August 2011, Oommen Chandy, the Chief Minister of Kerala, was also added to the re investigation. The court asked the vigilance and anti-corruption bureau to submit its investigation report of the palmolein case by November 10, 2011.
Thomas was removed from the CVC's post by the Supreme Court of India because the court found that "Mr. Thomas was accused No. 8 in the Kerala palmolein case pending in the Court of the Special Judge, Thiruvananthapuram, for offences under Section 13(2) read with 13(1) (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and under Section 120B (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code".
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