CPI(M) Kerala unit condemns ED move against Pinarayi, Veena and Riyas
CPI(M)'s Kerala State committee has condemned the ED's attempt to implicate Pinarayi Vijayan, T. Veena and P.A. Mohamed Riyas in the CMRL-Exalogic case, vowing legal and political resistance.
The CPI(M) in Kerala has come out strongly against the Enforcement Directorate's move to implicate Leader of the Opposition and Polit Bureau member Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter T. Veena, and her husband and party State secretariat member P.A. Mohamed Riyas in the CMRL-Exalogic pay-off case.
A resolution adopted on the final day of the party's three-day extended State committee meeting described the agency's action as a political witch-hunt and said it would be resisted both legally and politically.
The resolution stated that Exalogic Solutions Private Ltd., now defunct and owned by Ms. Veena, had entered into a business transaction with the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd. (CMRL) under a legal agreement. It said the applicable income tax and Goods and Services Tax were paid during that period, and that the company received remuneration for its services through bank accounts.
The party also took exception to the conduct of the Income Tax Interim Settlement Board in an arbitration application filed by the CMRL. According to the resolution, the board unilaterally recorded a reference identifying a person as "the daughter of a prominent Kerala politician" without hearing Exalogic or its owner. The party said this in itself was evidence of a politically motivated witch-hunt.
The resolution recalled that the party had responded at the time by calling out the Central government's political witch-hunt, and asserted that its earlier stand had been vindicated as additional agencies are now being drawn into the investigation.
It further alleged that the Enforcement Directorate's letter to the State Police Chief seeking registration of a first information report against Mr. Vijayan, Ms. Veena and Mr. Riyas contained several points that had earlier been raised by Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan.
Two other resolutions passed at the meeting called on the public to rally against what they described as the anti-people policies of the Union and State governments.