Supreme Court gives Vijayan, family one week to appeal in CMRL-Exalogic case
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside a Kerala High Court order that had refused to entertain appeals filed by former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter T. Veena, son-in-law and former minister P.A. Mohammed Riyas and others against a direction to register a vigilance FIR in the CMRL-Exalogic alleged pay-off case.
A Bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana allowed the petitioners one week to approach the Kerala High Court’s Division Bench with their appeals. It also stayed the investigation into the FIR registered by the Kerala Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau for seven days to enable them to seek interim relief from the appellate court.
The Supreme Court clarified that its observations were limited to whether the petitioners could challenge the single judge’s order and would not influence the merits of their appeals.
The case relates to an October 9 order by a single judge of the Kerala High Court, who directed the registration of an FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act based on material shared by the Enforcement Directorate.
Vijayan, Veena, Mohammed Riyas and others moved the Supreme Court after the Kerala High Court’s Division Bench declined to stay the single judge’s directions and reserved its decision on whether they could appeal against an order passed in proceedings in which they were not parties.
The apex court rejected the argument of the ED and the original writ petitioner that the appellants had no right to challenge the single judge’s directions. It held that they had made out a prima facie case to establish their right to pursue the appeals.
The Bench noted that the single judge had recorded a finding that the material provided by the ED disclosed a cognizable offence, making the registration of an FIR mandatory. Since this finding could affect the petitioners in separate proceedings challenging the FIR, they could not be denied the opportunity to contest it before the appellate forum.
“This is not a case where, on the receipt of communication under Section 66(2) PMLA, the state government had registered an FIR on its own. On the contrary, the registration of FIR and commencement of investigation were pursuant to the order passed by the Constitutional Court,” the Supreme Court observed.
The court further said the single judge had gone beyond directing the registration of an FIR by also ordering the start of investigation and the filing of a final report.
“Commencement of investigation and taking the same to its logical conclusion under the Prevention of Corruption Act requires compliance with other conditions of the special law,” the Bench said, adding that these factors provided a prima facie basis for the petitioners to seek leave to appeal.
Setting aside the impugned order, the Supreme Court permitted the petitioners to pursue their appeals before the Kerala High Court’s Division Bench.
“We are not against any investigation. We will maintain the FIR but no investigation until and unless the issues are decided by the appellate court,” Justice Bagchi orally observed during the hearing.
The court clarified that the seven-day stay was intended only to allow the filing of appeals and would not prevent the Division Bench from independently considering any application for interim relief.
The case concerns alleged payments made by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited to Exalogic Solutions Pvt Ltd, a firm founded by Veena, during Vijayan’s first term as Chief Minister.
The ED alleged that Exalogic received Rs 3.28 crore from CMRL for services that were not rendered and claimed the payments were made owing to political influence, amounting to a bribe to Vijayan.
Vijayan has been named the first accused and Veena the second accused among seven persons in the case.
After the single judge’s order, Vigilance Director Manoj Abraham had ordered the formation of a probe team, with Deputy Inspector General of Police Thomson Jose supervising the investigation.
(Inputs from IANS)