Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 8 (IANS): A court here Monday ordered the state vigilance department to re-investigate Chief Minister Oommen Chandy's role in the infamous 1992 palm oil import case when he was Kerala's finance minister.

Special Vigilance Court judge P.K. Haneefa gave the order.

The import of 15,000 tonnes of palm oil was undertaken in 1992. The case was registered in 1999 when the Communists led by E.K. Nayanar were in power. The vigilance department had earlier submitted a report stating that there was nothing that could indict Chandy in the case.

Former chief minister K. Karunakaran, then food minister T.H. Mustafa and bureaucrats P.J. Thomas and Jiji Thompson were charged with causing a loss of Rs.2.32 crore by importing oil from Malaysia at an enhanced price.

The case was reopened earlier this year by the then Left government under V.S. Achuthanandan after Mustafa filed a petition asking the court that he also be allowed to go free as Chandy has not been named in the case.

Soon, the state government ordered a hurried investigation and the vigilance department submitted the report giving a clean chit to Chandy on May 13 -- the day the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) won the assembly polls.

The court Monday asked for a re-investigation to specifically look if Chandy had any role in the import deal and asked the department to submit a fresh report in three months.

Reacting to the new development, former home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said that in the light of the court ordering a fresh probe by the same vigilance department and the same official, it will not be very helpful.

"The present vigilance department director should be asked to go. With Chandy himself holding the vigilance portfolio, he should give up the vigilance portfolio. It must be recalled that former central vigilance commissioner P.J. Thomas had to step down because he is an accused in the case," said Balakrishnan.