KT Jaleel, Kerala Minister for Higher Education, Welfare of Minorities, Waqf and Hajj, has resigned from the state cabinet. Jaleel's decision to resign came days after the Lokayukta found that he was guilty of nepotism and had given a government appointment to a relative. The Lokayukta had asked Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to ask Jaleel to resign. Jaleel had approached the High Court to quash the Lokayukta order but however resigned just before the case came up in court
Jaleel took to Facebook to announce his resignation. “This is a temporary victory for those who wanted to suck my blood. I am announcing with pleasure that I have given my resignation letter to the Chief Minister. I am a public servant who has been subjected to an unjustifiable media witch hunt for the last two years. This is not because I had stolen, neither was I corrupt and nor did I make disproportionate assets. This was not because I caused even a penny’s loss to the public exchequer, neither because i have led a luxurious life… but there was a constant witch hunt."
“I see it as the greatest recognition in public life that the three Central Investigation Agencies have sifted through and examined and found no trace of error. Any investigation agencies, including media investigation teams, are still welcome to my home a thousand times,” he said.
He then went on to blame a 'media syndicate' that had targeted him with renewed vigour in the last three days. In his FB post, Jaleel also made sarcastic references to scams perpetrated by other politicians.
After the Lokayukta found him guilty and calls seeking Jaleel’s resignation were raised, Kerala’s Law Minister had backed Jaleel, saying that he has many legal options left before he resigns.
In November 2018, the Muslim Youth League had filed a complaint against the minister alleging that rules were flouted to appointe the minister’s cousin, Adeeb KT, as the general manager in the Kerala State Minorities Development Finance Corporation. Adeeb was the manager of a private bank when the appointment was made, and the Youth League had alleged nepotism in the appointment.
Jaleel has alleged since then that the Youth League was “after him since 2006” when he won the Assembly seat from Kuttipuram constituency as an independent, with the Left Democratic Front's support. alleged that the report claiming he used his position to obtain a favour for a relative was prepared without preliminary enquiry.