Kerala to register FIR against Pinarayi Vijayan family in CMRL case

The Kerala High Court has ordered registration of an FIR against Pinarayi Vijayan and his family in the alleged CMRL bribery case. The state government says it will comply, after the court held its earlier SIT route illegal.

In Short

• Government source said the state will comply with the High Court directive
• Court ruled the earlier SIT probe without an FIR was illegal
• Vigilance Bureau chief was told to register the case forthwith

The Kerala government is unlikely to challenge a Kerala High Court order directing the registration of an FIR against former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and members of his family in the alleged CMRL bribery case, a top official source said on Friday.

The source said the government would comply with the order. Earlier, it had set up a Special Investigation Team for a preliminary inquiry after the Enforcement Directorate shared its report on the allegations. The High Court, however, held on Friday that constituting an SIT without first registering an FIR was illegal.

According to the source, if the government had registered an FIR without any inquiry, it could have been seen as acting in "undue haste" and its move could have been interpreted as political vendetta. That was why an SIT was constituted, the source said.

With the High Court bench of Justice A Badharudeen now directing that an FIR be registered, the government will proceed accordingly, the source said. "There is no question of filing an appeal. We will abide by the court order," the source told PTI.

The court specifically directed the Director of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Thiruvananthapuram, to "forthwith" register an FIR on the basis of the information furnished by the ED under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act for offences disclosed under the Prevention of Corruption Act against the suspected persons named in the agency's report. The ED has sought registration of a case on the basis of "evidence" gathered during its probe and searches conducted under the money laundering law.

The ED has alleged that Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited made fraudulent payments of Rs 2.78 crore to Exalogic Solutions, the now-defunct company of Vijayan's daughter Veena T, under the guise of "IT consultancy services". The case also names Vijayan and his son-in-law and former minister Mohamed Riyas, and the government is now set to act on the court's direction to register the FIR.

- Ends