Published Oct 09, 2026 | 10:51 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 09, 2026 | 11:06 AM
The possibility of constituting an SIT is being discussed in government circles
A single-judge bench of the Kerala High Court ruled on Friday that an FIR must be filed under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter T Veena, and son-in-law PA Mohammed Riyas in the CMRL-Exalogic case.
Justice A Badharudeen delivered his verdict on a petition filed by KM Shajahan, the former private secretary to late Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan.
Shajahan had challenged the state government’s decision to order a preliminary Crime Branch inquiry instead of registering an FIR.
Earlier, Advocate General K Jaju Babu challenged the maintainability of Shajahan’s petition, alleging that it was a public interest litigation filed with vested interests. The state told the court that diary notes alone were not enough to invoke corruption charges.
The ED, in a sealed cover, argued that the police had no discretion to delay registering an FIR.
The court noted that the case included statements and other evidence and directed the police to register an FIR and investigate.
The High Court’s ruling is a setback not only for Pinarayi Vijayan, Veena and Riyas, but also for the state government, which had decided to conduct a preliminary inquiry instead of registering an FIR.
The government had defended its decision, citing legal advice and the Supreme Court’s rulings in the Vijay Madanlal Choudhary and Lalita Kumari cases.
The Keralam Police subsequently constituted a nine-member Crime Branch SIT and gave it 30 days to examine the ED’s findings. The decision to entrust the inquiry to the Crime Branch rather than the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau had also drawn criticism.
The key question before the High Court was whether the police could conduct a preliminary inquiry after receiving information from the ED under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), or whether they were required to register an FIR.
Pinarayi Vijayan and Mohammed Riyas have denied the allegations.
The ED had sent a letter to the Keralam State Police Chief under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, seeking the registration of separate FIRs against 13 people, including Pinarayi Vijayan, Mohammed Riyas, Veena T, CMRL managing director Sasidharan Kartha and P Sureshkumar. The agency alleged that the suspected bribe amount was transferred through Empower India Capital Investments.
The ED also alleged that several individuals identified as friends of Riyas — Nikhil, Waris, Faijaz, Nandulal and Shaijal — were involved in the transfer of the alleged bribe money.
The agency had also reportedly handed over a detailed report, along with evidence supporting its request.
Officials said the ED frequently uses Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, to share investigative material with state law enforcement agencies.
According to them, this section empowers the ED to pass on evidence of a corruption or bribery offence to state authorities, requesting them to register an FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
According to the ED, a statement recorded from Hassan Waris, an associate of Riyas, during a search at his Feroke residence on 18 August provided further evidence of an alleged illicit financial nexus.
The agency said Waris had told investigators that, on Riyas’s instructions in June-July 2024, unidentified persons delivered cash to his office.
The statement alleged that money was subsequently remitted to Faijas VP in Dubai in five instalments through hawala agent Subair Karuvamboyil.
The dates mentioned by the ED were 3 July, 20 July, 22 July and 23 July 2024, and 5 July 2025.
The ED also referred to WhatsApp chats between Waris and individuals identified as Faijas and Subair.
The ED said Waris admitted in a written statement that the chats were his.
Subair’s contact, the ED said, was saved in Waris’s phone as “DXB Subair koduvally Hawala”.
The letter submitted by the ED to the Keralam police chief is reported to contain details of payments allegedly received by Veena from Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) from March 2017.
The payment statement cited by the ED showed ₹9 lakh being credited to Veena’s account on 4 March 2017.
The ED said ₹2.78 crore was credited to Veena’s bank account, while another ₹50 lakh was deposited into Exalogic Solutions’ account, taking the total to ₹3.28 crore. Veena owned the now-defunct Exalogic.
The ED alleged that the amount constituted a bribe paid to then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan through Veena.
The agency cited the statement of former CMRL CFO P Sureshkumar, who allegedly told investigators that the payments were made to Veena because of her connection with Vijayan.
The ED further alleged that Exalogic had not provided services to CMRL.
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(Edited by R Rajesh Kumar.)
