In a major jolt to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, the Kerala government has ordered the reopening of the case linked to alleged corruption in the Public Works Department (PWD) during his tenure as Secretary and an alleged suicide of a Malaysian civil engineer.
The Kerala Home Minister's Office said that the state HM Ramesh Chennithala has ordered a vigilance investigation into the case. The office said that the case related to the death by suicide of Malaysian engineer Lee See Been.
According to the HMO, Been was associated with the PATI-BEL consortium involved in the upgradation of MC Road under the Kerala State Transport Project. His suicide note reportedly named Gyanesh Kumar.
"State Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala has directly instructed the Vigilance Director to conduct a thorough inquiry into allegations of external influence in the case involving Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and take appropriate action based on the findings," the state HMO stated.
What is the case?
The case recently came to light when CPM leader TM Thomas Isaac revisited it in a social media post. According to a report by The New Indian Express, Isaac was the state finance minister during 2006-11 when the then PWD secretary Gyanesh Kumar was among the officials named in the suicide note of Lee Been Seen.
Lee was the Kerala operations in-charge of PATI-BEL, a joint venture between Malaysian firm PATI and Bhageeratha Constructions for a road project in the state and died by suicide in Kuala Lumpur.
Isaac claimed that Lee's suicide note detailed corruption, mismanagement and harassment by PWD officials, with a mention of a demand for bribes.
The incident had caught Kumar by storm, and he was transferred out of the department and the state after a vigilance enquiry was initiated. He moved to the Union Defence Ministry after that. In his Facebook post, Isaac alleged that the road project was initially estimated at Rs 216 crore, but ultimately cost at least Rs 330 crore for completion.
He added that the probe didn't reach anywhere due to jurisdictional issues and lack of interest from officials. "The department’s negligence left the entire blame on the Kerala government. I am not sure whether the vigilance department still has records of the inquiry, as old files are generally destroyed. This happened 20 years back. Maybe the Malaysian company also didn’t pursue the case," Isaac was quoted by TNIE as saying.
SIR row
The case reopening comes as Kumar is facing heat over the special intensive revision and reports questioning the functioning of the poll panel.
The Opposition INDIA bloc, led by Congress, has announced a march to the Election Commission of India headquarters in New Delhi on October 6, alleging vote theft and irregularities in SIR.
The opposition has also planned nationwide protest rallies at the district level, demanding Kumar's resignation.
While political parties have upped the ante, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) also held a mega protest in Mumbai on October 2, demanding Kumar's resignation. The CJP has also announced it will hold a protest march to Delhi's Jantar Mantar on October 10, 2026.