Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 9 (IANS): The Kerala Lokayukta on Friday said that the state's Higher Education Minister K.T. Jaleel has no moral right to continue in office as he has "misused" his powers and indulged in "nepotism", asking Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to take action against him.

The Kerala Lokayukta is headed by retired Supreme Court Judge Cyriac Joseph.

The case pertains to an appointment made by Jaleel in 2018 when he had appointed his close relative K.T. Adeeb as General Manager of the Kerala State Minorities Development Finance Corporation. Since then the youth wing of the Indian Union Muslim League, the second biggest ally of the Congress-led UDF, has been up in arms.

The move triggered huge protests inside and outside the Assembly even though Jaleel defended him saying that the appointment was in order. He also got the support of the CPI-M, but later Adeeb had quit the post and returned to his bank job.

It was P.K. Mohammed Shafi, a resident of Jaleel's home district Malappuram, who approached the Lokayukta. His counsel George Poonthotem said the verdict is very clear and the Lokayukta has said Jaleel has no moral right to continue as a Minister.

Jaleel, in the 2006 Assembly elections, trounced the second topmost politician in the Congress led UDF -- P.K.Kunhalikutty, a former Minister and since then the former, though not a CPI-M card holder has become the blue eyed boy of Pinarayi Vijayan, who in 2016 appointed him as a Cabinet Minister.

Jaleel contested the April 6 Assembly polls from the Thavanur assembly constituency in Malappuram district.