Kerala government unlikely to appeal HC order to register FIR against Pinarayi Vijayan in CMRL case

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

While the V D Satheesan-led UDF government had apparently backed an Enforcement Directorate report into the allegations of corruption against Vijayan, his daughter Veena T, his son-in-law and former minister Mohamed Riyas, it had also constituted a Special Investigation Team to conduct a preliminary inquiry.

On Friday, the High Court termed as illegal the government's decision to set up an SIT without registering an FIR.

The source said that had the government filed an FIR without an inquiry, it would have appeared to have acted in "undue haste" and its actions would have been construed as political vendetta. Therefore, a SIT was set up, it said.

However, now that the High Court bench of Justice A Badharudeen has ordered the filing of an FIR, the government will do so. "There is no question of filing an appeal. We will abide by the court order," the source told PTI.

The court has specifically directed the Director of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB), Thiruvananthapuram, to "forthwith" register an FIR based on the information furnished by the ED under section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for offences disclosed under the Prevention of Corruption Act against the suspected persons specifically mentioned in the agency's report.

The ED has sought registration of a case based on "evidence" gathered during its probe and searches conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The agency has alleged that Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) made fraudulent payments of Rs 2.78 crore to Veena's now-defunct company Exalogic Solutions under the guise of "IT consultancy services."