After setback in Kerala HC, Pinarayi moves SC against FIR in CMRL-Exalogic case

A day after former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan faced a setback in the Kerala High Court over the First Information Report (FIR) registration in the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL)-Exalogic payoff case, he approached the Supreme Court on Friday, October 16.  

On Thursday October 15, the Kerala High Court had dismissed the appeals of Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter Veena T, and son-in-law and former minister PA Mohamed Riyas, refusing to interfere with a single bench's order to register an FIR in the CMRL-Exalogic payoff case.

On October 13, Pinarayi, Veena, and Riyas had filed separate appeals challenging a single bench’s order directing the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to register an FIR invoking provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act over alleged financial dealings between CMRL and Exalogic Solutions Pvt Ltd.

The division bench comprising Justices K Natarajan and Johnson John delivered the ruling on Thursday, October 15. The court held that an accused person in a corruption case has no legal right to be heard before an FIR is registered.

"It is clear that the impugned judgement has not affected the right of the applicants to pursue their constitutional or statutory remedy against the registration of the FIR and in such a situation, all the applications seeking leave to appeal are dismissed,” the court said as per a LiveLaw report. 

The bench stated that a preliminary inquiry is not mandatory when the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) provides sufficient material disclosing a cognisable offence under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Earlier, the VACB had registered two FIRs following the High Court direction. In one case, Pinarayi is named as the first accused, while in the other, Riyas is the first accused. Veena is listed as the second accused in both cases.

The FIRs contain allegations of corruption and conspiracy relating to payments made by CMRL and its associate concern to Veena and her now defunct firm Exalogic. According to the FIR, Exalogic received Rs 3 lakh a month, while Veena was paid Rs 5 lakh monthly as a consultant. The investigating agency alleged that the payments were made despite the services not being provided.