The party’s intervention adds a two-decade-old episode from Kumar’s tenure in Keralam to the political pressure surrounding his stewardship of the Election Commission. Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, who has separately demanded Kumar’s resignation, also amplified the controversy on social media.
The case concerns Lee Been Seen, a Malaysian national who headed operations in Keralam for PATI-BEL, a joint venture involving Malaysian company PATI and Bhageeratha Constructions. The venture was working on a road package connected with the World Bank-assisted Kerala State Transport Project. Lee died by suicide in Kuala Lumpur in November 2006 after returning from Keralam.
Contemporary accounts said Lee left two notes, including one addressed to his wife and another to a director of PATI. The notes were reported to have described difficulties encountered with government officials, including alleged harassment and delays in payments due to the company. Kumar, then secretary of Keralam’s Public Works Department, was reported among officials named in connection with those allegations.
The episode has returned to political attention after former Keralam finance minister and senior CPI leader T M Thomas Isaac raised it while criticising Kumar’s record. Isaac said allegations involving bribery and demands for money by officials had circulated at the time and that Kumar’s name was among those mentioned. He acknowledged that he had not personally read Lee’s suicide notes.
That qualification is significant because the renewed political claims do not amount to a finding of wrongdoing against Kumar. Available accounts establish that allegations were made and an inquiry followed, but do not establish that Kumar was convicted or found criminally liable over Lee’s death or the accusations surrounding the road project.
The controversy nevertheless produced administrative action in 2006. Kumar was shifted from the PWD and the state vigilance machinery was asked to examine alleged financial irregularities connected with the project. Former officials have said the inquiry did not reach a definitive outcome, citing jurisdictional and other difficulties.
Jacob Punnose, who served as Additional Director General of Police for Intelligence at the time, has said the police did not obtain the suicide note and that legal constraints prevented Keralam authorities from accessing it. He also said Malaysian police did not approach them as part of an investigation. Former Vigilance ADGP Sibi Mathews has questioned how Kumar subsequently secured clearance for central deputation while facing a vigilance inquiry.
The resurfacing of the episode comes as opposition parties have stepped up pressure on Kumar over the Election Commission’s handling of electoral rolls and the Special Intensive Revision process. Congress leaders have sought his resignation and accused him of taking decisions that they say undermine established electoral procedures. The Election Commission has rejected suggestions that institutional differences demonstrate improper decision-making and has maintained that its final decisions are collective.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh has separately accused Kumar of acting unlawfully over changes connected with Form 6 used for voter enrolment, alleging that requirements concerning parental details were introduced without the statutory process necessary to amend the form. Election Commission officials have maintained that the declaration was introduced through instructions and that Form 6 itself was not amended.
