New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside a Kerala High Court division bench order that had denied former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter T. Veena and son-in-law P.A. Mohamed Riyas permission to appeal against a single judge's direction to register an FIR, and stayed the investigation for seven days.
A Bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana also allowed the three to pursue the appeal before the division bench and seek interim relief there. The stay, the Bench said, was meant to let them do exactly that.
The case is the ₹278-crore Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL)-Exalogic payoff matter. On October 9, a single judge of the Kerala High Court directed the state Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to register an FIR against Mr. Vijayan, Ms. Veena and Mr. Riyas, among others. The Enforcement Directorate had alleged that CMRL paid ₹2.78 crore to Ms. Veena's now-defunct firm, Exalogic Solutions, described as IT consultancy. On October 15, a division bench refused the three leave to appeal.
Mr. Vijayan's counsel argued that he was neither a party to the original proceedings nor heard before the single judge issued the direction. The court noted that the single judge had ordered not just the FIR but also the start of the investigation.
The Bench said it had made no observations on the merits of the FIR. It also expressed no opinion on the validity of a subsequent Enforcement Case Information Report registered against the petitioners, while granting them liberty to challenge it before the appropriate forum.
Mr. Vijayan is the Leader of the Opposition in Kerala. The FIR was to be registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The division bench will now hear the appeal afresh.