Supreme Court temporarily stays probe in CMRL–Exalogic case; FIRs remain

The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday, October 21, temporarily stayed the investigation into the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL)–Exalogic case involving alleged payments to former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter Veena T, and his son-in-law, former minister Muhammed Riyaz. The SC also set aside the Kerala High Court’s order refusing to hear an appeal against the direction to register a First Information Report (FIR).

Following the High Court’s direction, the Kerala Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) registered FIRs and began investigating Pinarayi Vijayan, Veena and Riyaz. The SC stayed the investigation for a week but clarified that the FIRs would remain in place for now.

According to LiveLaw, the SC said Pinarayi and his family could appeal to a High Court division bench against the single judge’s direction to register an FIR.

Pinarayi Vijayan and his family approached the SC on October 16, a day after facing a setback in the Kerala High Court over the FIR registration in the CMRL–Exalogic case. The High Court single judge had directed the registration of an FIR based on a report submitted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to the Kerala police.

Earlier, the VACB had registered two FIRs following the High Court’s direction. Pinarayi is named as the first accused in one case, while Riyaz is the first accused in the other. Veena is named as the second accused in both. The FIRs allege corruption and conspiracy in connection with payments made by CMRL and an associated company to Veena and her now-defunct firm, Exalogic.

On October 13, Pinarayi, Veena and Riyaz filed separate appeals challenging a single judge’s order directing the VACB to register an FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The order concerned alleged financial dealings between CMRL and Exalogic Solutions Pvt Ltd; but the High Court dismissed their appeals, refusing to interfere with the direction to register an FIR. The division bench, comprising Justices K. Natarajan and Johnson John, held that an accused person in a corruption case has no legal right to be heard before an FIR is registered.