ED summons Pinarayi Vijayan for questioning in CMRL-Exalogic case
Thiruvananthapuram: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan for questioning next week in connection with the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL)-Exalogic deal case, even as he moved the Supreme Court on Friday challenging a Kerala High Court order directing the registration of an FIR in the alleged bribery case.
Vijayan's counsel, Sidharth Luthra, mentioned the plea for urgent listing before a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, seeking protection from coercive action. The Chief Justice said the matter would be heard when the Supreme Court reopens on October 26 after the Dussehra break, adding that he might constitute a bench during the holidays next week, subject to the availability of judges.
The ED's summons comes amid a series of legal setbacks for Vijayan and his family in the alleged CMRL bribery case.
On Thursday, a division bench of the Kerala High Court dismissed the applications filed by Vijayan, his daughter Veena T and her husband, P A Mohamed Riyas, seeking permission to appeal against a single judge's October 9 order directing the registration of an FIR.
The division bench held that "an accused in a corruption case has no legal right to be heard before registering the FIR". It consequently dismissed their appeals.
Vijayan, Veena and Riyas had argued that they were not heard by the single judge before the direction to register the FIR was issued.
On October 9, the High Court directed the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to register a case based on a report submitted by the ED to the state police.
The ED had sought the registration of a case based on evidence gathered during its investigation and searches conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The agency has alleged that CMRL made fraudulent payments of Rs 2.78 crore to Veena's now-defunct company, Exalogic Solutions, under the guise of IT consultancy services.