Supreme Court to Hear Petition by Former Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan on October 21

New Delhi, October 19 (Daily Kiran) : The Supreme Court is set to hear petitions from senior CPI(M) leader and former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, along with his daughter T. Veena, son-in-law and former minister P.A. Mohammad Riyas, and others on October 21. These petitions challenge a Kerala High Court order that directed the Vigilance to register an FIR in connection with the alleged CMRL-Exlogic payment scandal.

According to the Supreme Court’s official website, a bench comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana will hear the case at 10:30 AM on Wednesday. The primary petition filed by Vijayan is categorized as a Special Leave Petition (Criminal), contesting proceedings initiated in the High Court based on a plea by lawyer K.M. Shahjahan.

Veena, Riyas, and others have also filed related petitions. These actions come after a division bench of the Kerala High Court denied interim relief to Vijayan and other appellants. This relief was sought against a single judge’s order from October 9, which instructed the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to file an FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Following this order, Vigilance Director Manoj Abraham directed the formation of an investigation team supervised by Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Thomson Jose.

The division bench, consisting of Justices K. Natarajan and Johnson John, has reserved its decision on whether Vijayan, Veena, Riyas, and other appellants, who were not parties to the original writ petition, can challenge the single judge’s order. The bench also denied a stay on this order.

Additionally, the single judge annulled the state government’s decision to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for a preliminary inquiry based on information provided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

This case pertains to alleged payments made by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) to Exlogic Solutions Private Limited, which was founded by Veena. These payments were reportedly made during Pinarayi Vijayan’s first term in office.

The ED alleges that Exlogic received ₹3.28 crores from CMRL for services that were never rendered, claiming these payments were politically motivated bribes to Vijayan. In this case, Vijayan is the first accused, with Veena listed as the second. A total of seven individuals, including CMRL owner Shashidharan Kartha, have been implicated.