New Delhi, Oct 19 (IANS) The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear, on October 21, petitions filed by CPI-M veteran and former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter T. Veena, son-in-law and former Minister P.A. Mohammed Riyas, and others challenging a Kerala High Court order directing the registration of a vigilance FIR in the CMRL-Exalogic alleged pay-off case.
As per the cause list published on the official website of the apex court, a Bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana will take up the matter for hearing on Wednesday (October 21) at 10.30 a.m.
The lead petition, filed by Vijayan, is registered as a Special Leave Petition (Criminal) challenging the High Court proceedings initiated on a plea by advocate K.M. Shajahan.
Connected petitions have been filed by Veena, Riyas and others.
The petitions come after a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court refused to grant interim relief to Vijayan and the other appellants against a single judge’s October 9 order directing the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to register an FIR incorporating offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Following the order, Vigilance Director Manoj Abraham ordered the formation of a probe team, with Deputy Inspector General of Police Thomson Jose supervising the investigation.
The Division Bench of Justices K. Natarajan and Johnson John had reserved its verdict on whether Vijayan, Veena, Riyas and the other appellants, who were not parties to the original writ petition, could challenge the single judge’s order, while declining to stay its operation.
The single judge had also quashed the state government’s decision to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a preliminary inquiry into information supplied by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The case concerns alleged payments made by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) to Exalogic Solutions Pvt Ltd, a company founded by Veena, during the first Pinarayi Vijayan government.
The ED had alleged that Exalogic received Rs 3.28 crore from CMRL for services that were not provided, claiming that the payments were made due to political influence and amounted to a bribe to Vijayan. Vijayan is the first accused in this case, while Veena is the second accused. Seven people, including CMRL owner Sasidharan Kartha, have been named as accused.
–IANS
pds/vd
