CMRL-Exalogic case: SC grants 7-day relief to Pinarayi Vijayan, daughter Veena and others

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted seven days of interim relief to former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan his daughter T Veena soninlaw and former minister PA Mohammed Riyas and others in the CMRLExalogic alleged payoff case setting aside a Kerala High Court order that declined to entertain their appeals against a direction to register a vigilance FIRA Bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana stayed the investigation into the FIR registered by the Kerala Vigilance and AntiCorruption Bureau VACB for seven days allowing the petitioners to approach the High Courts Division Bench and seek interim reliefSupreme Court allows petitioners to challenge FIR orderThe Supreme Court held that the petitioners had made out a prima facie case to establish their right to challenge the single judges order It clarified that its observations were limited to their eligibility to pursue appeals and would not affect the merits of the caseThe petitioners had approached the apex court after the Kerala High Court declined to grant them permission to appeal against the October 9 order directing the registration of an FIR under the Prevention of Corruption ActInvestigation stayed but FIR remains in placeThe Bench made it clear that the sevenday protection applied only to the investigation and did not quash the FIRldquoWe are not against any investigation We will maintain the FIR but no investigation until and unless the issues are decided by the appellate courtrdquo the Bench orally observed during the hearingThe Supreme Court also clarified that the interim protection was intended to give the petitioners time to approach the appellate forum The Division Bench of the Kerala High Court remains free to decide any application for interim relief independently and in accordance with the lawCourt questions scope of single judges directionsThe proceedings stem from a petition seeking action on information supplied by the Enforcement Directorate ED to the state authorities The single judge had directed the registration of an FIR after finding that the material disclosed a cognizable offenceThe Supreme Court observed that the single judge had gone beyond ordering the registration of an FIR by also directing the commencement of an investigation and the submission of a final reportldquoThis is not a case where on the receipt of communication under Section 662 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 Courtrdquo the apex court observedIt added that investigations under the Prevention of Corruption Act must comply with the conditions prescribed by the special lawCase concerns alleged payments to Exalogic SolutionsThe case relates to alleged payments made by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited CMRL to Exalogic Solutions Pvt Ltd a company founded by Veena during the tenure of the first Vijayanled government in KeralaThe ED has alleged that payments were made to Exalogic for services that were not provided and that the transactions were linked to political influence The allegations also concern the possible receipt of illegal gratification by public servantsVijayan Veena Riyas and other individuals have been named in the proceedings The allegations remain subject to legal scrutiny and have not been established as criminal guilt by a courtWith inputs from IANS