The Keralam government took legal advice from the Director General of Prosecution regarding the case against current Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The case is related to the 2006 suicide of a Malaysian, Lee See Been, a former chief project officer of a World Bank-aided Kerala State Transport Project for the reconstruction of MC Road. This project was implemented by a joint venture between PATI of Malaysia and Bhageeratha Constructions, Kochi.
As per Been's suicide note, he was facing extreme mental stress and he mentioned the name of Gyanesh Kumar in it. It was said that there were delays in the release of bill payments, which made the company go into a financial crisis and created the situation for Been to take this extreme step. Been had blamed government officials and the PWD ministry for the late payments, and then the government ordered a probe against Gyanesh Kumar as he was serving as the secretary of the Public Works Department.
There are also allegations that Gyanesh Kumar favored a contractor of his interest, which led the state government to bear extra costs at that time, and that he used his power to stop the investigation against him and suppress the case. However, the case can now be opened if the allegations can be proved; according to the legal opinion of the Director General of Prosecution, there is no legal bar in proceeding against him for this.