Idukki: The Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said on Saturday that the Vigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau will register an FIR on Monday in the CMRL-Exalogic monthly payment case involving Opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan, former Minister and Vijayan’s son-in-law P.A. Mohammed Riyas, daughter T. Veena, and others.
The state government would proceed with legal action in the case and there was no need to appeal against the Kerala High Court order, Chennithala added.
On Friday, the High Court had directed the Vigilance to register a case and investigate the allegations under the Prevention of Corruption Act, based on evidence submitted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
It also quashed the Crime Branch’s Special Investigation Team (SIT), which had been constituted to conduct a preliminary inquiry.
The court directed that all documents and digital evidence handed over by the ED to the Director General of Police Ravada Azad Chandrasekhar, along with the material collected by the SIT, be transferred to the Vigilance without delay.
The proposed FIR is expected to bring the allegations against Vijayan, Riyas and Veena into a formal criminal investigation.
The ED has alleged that CMRL paid Rs 3.28 crore to Veena’s company, Exalogic, during 2017-19 without receiving services in return.
The ED’s findings and records will be available to the police.
However, the Vigilance will have to conduct its own investigation and gather evidence to establish whether the payments amounted to bribery and whether the accused were involved in any offence.
The registration of an FIR does not, by itself, establish guilt.
The allegations will have to be proved through the investigation and subsequent legal proceedings.
Although the Vigilance does not normally make immediate arrests in such cases, the course of the investigation will depend on the evidence gathered.
Any further action by the ED also remains to be seen.
The agency could initiate separate proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act if the legal requirements are met.
Meanwhile, Pinarayi Vijayan and the others concerned are expected to challenge the High Court single judge’s order before a Division Bench.
They could seek a stay on the investigation or ask the court to quash the order.
However, the ED’s submissions and the High Court’s findings are likely to figure prominently in the ensuing legal battle.
The Vigilance investigation and the possible parallel proceedings by the ED are set to intensify the political and legal fallout of the long running monthly payment controversy.
The Kerala Assembly is going to be closely watched as a fresh nine day session begins on Monday as this issue is for sure to reverbate in the floor of the House, should the Left opposition take on the V.D. Satheesan government.
–IANS–
