Veena Vijayan  
Kerala

ED defers Veena Vijayan's questioning to June 17, insists on her physical presence

Veena initially received summons from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to appear for questioning on June 12. The agency gave a new date after she sought exemption from appearance citing a health issue.

Written by : Prajwal V Shylan

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Veena Vijayan, the daughter of Kerala’s Opposition leader and former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, was served with a second summons after she informed that she will not appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday, June 12 in connection with the investigation in the CMRL-Exalogic case. 

ED acknowledging the temporary deferral request submitted by Veena postponed the questioning date to Wednesday, June 17. 

On Thursday, June 11, Veena had sent an email to ED, citing health issues, and requested the postponement of her deposition to a later date. Veena informed ED that she will submit required documents and answers through her counsel regarding this case. However, ED, in its response, asked for Veena's physical presence for questioning on the postponed date. 

ED’s Kochi zonal office had summoned Veena for questioning on Friday, June 12, 2026. The agency routinely considers extensions based on legitimate medical grounds. She will be mandated to appear in person early next week. 

The ED probe is to investigate allegations that Cochin Minerals and Rultile Ltd (CMRL) made payments amounting to Rs 2.78 crore to Exalogic Solutions Private Limited, an IT consultancy firm owned by Veena over the period of 2016 to 2021, without receiving any service in return.

ED is also looking into the activities of Empower India Capital Investments Private Limited (EICPL), operated by CMRL Managing Director Sasidharan Kartha, which had extended loans worth Rs 50 lakh to Exalogic despite the company allegedly failing to make timely repayments.

The Central Agency has alleged that the management of CMRL, led by Kartha, transferred "proceeds of crimes" through transactions to Veena's account.

ED has filed the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on the basis of a prosecution complaint filed before a court in Ernakulam in April 2025 by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), which uncovered financial irregularities exceeding 132 crore involving CMRL.

CMRL came under the surveillance of central agencies following an income tax department raid in January 2019 that allegedly uncovered irregularities in their expenses.

Last month, ED conducted searches at 10 locations linked to the case, including the premises of the Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan and Veena along with her husband PA Mohammed Riyas.  

The article was written by a student interning with TNM.