CMRL Payoff Case Relief For Former CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Kin
The bench admitted their appeals against the single judge’s order, noting that the matter required detailed consideration and scheduled it for hearing in four weeks.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The former chief minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, and his associates got some relief on Monday when the Kerala High Court stayed a single judge’s order directing the registration of an FIR against them in the alleged CMRL payoff case.
A bench of Justices K. Natarajan and Johnson John also put on hold the FIRs registered by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) and the agency’s probe into the cases until further orders, following appeals filed by Vijayan and others challenging the single judge’s order.
The bench admitted their appeals against the single judge’s order, noting that the matter required detailed consideration and scheduled it for hearing in four weeks. The order came on the appeals filed by Vijayan, his daughter Veena T, and her husband P. A. Mohammed Riyas, challenging the single judge’s October 9 directive to the VACB to lodge an FIR against them based on a report from the ED in connection with the CMLRL payoff case.
According to VACB’s FIR, Vijayan allegedly abused his official position and engaged in corrupt and illegal means to secure illicit financial benefits for himself, his daughter, and her company.
The FIR alleges that Veena and her now-defunct company, Exalogic Solutions, received Rs 3.28 crore from CMRL and Empower India Capital Investments Pvt Ltd through their respective bank accounts, under the guise of providing information technology consultancy and marketing services.
Reacting to the HC order, Pinarayi expressed full faith in the judiciary, stating, "I have always maintained that the law will take its own course."
CPM state secretary M V Govindan stated that the entire case has been cooked up as part of a conspiracy by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre to misuse agencies against the party’s top leader and his family. He alleged that the Congress-led UDF government in Kerala is also hand in glove with the Centre, aiming to weaken the CPM. He reaffirmed that his party will fight the case both legally and politically.
