Cashew import scam: Kerala High Court stays interim orders of Single Bench

A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court has stayed the interim orders passed by a Single Bench, based on which the Keralam government had granted the sanction to prosecute the accused persons in the ₹600-crore cashew import scam under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

A Bench of Justice K. Natarajan and Justice Johnson John issued the stay order in appeals filed by the accused, Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation (KSCDC) former chairman R. Chandrasekharan and former managing director K.A. Ratheesh.

The orders stayed include those that had been issued by the Single Bench quashing two government orders (GO) denying sanction to prosecute them and upholding a GO that granted sanction to prosecute them and directing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to proceed with the prosecution.

The Division Bench order comes in the wake of the two accused persons challenging the orders passed by the Single Bench. They argued that the Bench had repeatedly quashed the GOs that had denied prosecution sanction in the case, thus inducing the sanctioning authority to issue an order in favour of the CBI. They challenged the Single Bench’s exercise of judicial review of the said GO’s in the contempt petition, contending that this was exceeding of the Bench’s jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, Kadakampally Manoj, the complainant in the corruption case, challenged the appeals and questioned their maintainability. He had alleged corruption in the import and purchase of cashew by the KSCDC.

The Division Bench had in August 2026 allowed the petitions by Mr. Ratheesh and Mr. Chandrasekharan, finding merit in their contention that the court had earlier set aside the State’s refusal of sanction for probe and directed reconsideration without giving the petitioners an opportunity to be heard.

The State had refused sanction thrice, before granting sanction for the CBI probe on July 6, 2026.