The Kerala High Court on Wednesday (September 2, 2026) sought to know how the prosecution sanction against the accused in the cashew import scam, which allegedly contained remarks on the court, was delivered to the accused. 

Justice A. Badharudeen, who is considering the case, sought a report from the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) in this regard.

A Vigilance official had stated before the court that the order was despatched on July 2, 2026, the day it was issued. The court directed the official to file an additional affidavit on the mode of service in seven days. 

The court orally remarked that the issue of sanction to prosecute public officials was between the sanctioning authority and the investigating agency and it had nothing to do with the accused. If the accused had any grievance regarding the order, he could obtain the copy when it was produced before the court, the court noted.

The sanctioning authority, the Cashew department, had issued the sanction order to allow the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to prosecute Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) State president and former Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation (KSCDC) chairperson R. Chandrasekharan and KSCDCformer managing director K.A. Ratheesh in connection with the alleged misappropriation in the import of raw cashew by the corporation between 2006 and 2015. 

Mr. Chandrasekharan had allegedly produced the government order issuing sanction on July 2 in a press conference. K.M. Shajahan, a lawyer, had filed the petition seeking a Vigilance inquiry into the alleged leak of the prosecution sanction order to the accused.