Kerala High Court Dismisses Ex-CM Pinarayi Vijayan's Plea To Appeal Against FIR Direction In CMRL-Exalogic Case

The Kerala High Court on Thursday dismissed the leave petitions filed by former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter Veena Vijayan and former Minister Mohammed Riyas, seeking permission to appeal against a Single Bench order directing the registration of an FIR against them in the CMRL Exalogic case.

On October 9, a Single Judge Bench of Justice A. Badharudeen directed the registration of an FIR against Pinarayi Vijayan, Veena Vijayan, and Mohammed Riyas over alleged offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The Division Bench of Justices K. Natarajan and Johnson John rejected the writ appeal.

The case arises from the Enforcement Directorate's investigation into alleged payments of around ₹1.72 crore made by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) to Exalogic Solutions Private Limited between 2017 and 2020, allegedly without corresponding services.

The ED forwarded material indicating possible offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act to the State Police.

Following the ED's communication, the State Government ordered a preliminary enquiry by the Crime Branch and constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT). The Single Bench held that the decision to conduct a preliminary enquiry without registering an FIR was illegal in the circumstances of the case and set aside the order constituting the SIT.

For the Appellants: Senior Advocates S. Sreekumar, T.A. Shaji, K. Gopalakrishna Kurup, Raman B. Pillai, Advocates Ameen Hassan K., Lisna Sherin T.T., Ummul Fadla T., Abdul Fathah, Rajesh A., Muneer Ahmed, Gilbert George Corrreya, K.K. Ravindranath, P. Narayanan, Manu V., Thanushree Damodaran, Abhijith M.A. and Clarina Christopher P.

For the Respondents: K. Jaju Babu - AG, P. Sreekumar - ASGI, V. Sethunath