Kerala AG Backs FIR Against Pinarayi, Veena and Riyas in CMRL-Exalogic Case

Kerala's senior-most law officer has advised the State government to accept the Enforcement Directorate's report in the CMRL-Exalogic pay-off case and register a first information report against all those named in it, including former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter T. Veena and her husband P.A. Mohamed Riyas.

Advocate General K. Jaju Babu is understood to have recommended that the FIR be filed against every person named in the report and that provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act be invoked. The police, sources indicated, are legally bound to act on the report under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, in line with principles laid down by the Supreme Court.

The ED submitted its report to the State Police Chief last week, seeking further action. The agency is said to have concluded that the accused, including Mr. Vijayan, Mr. Riyas and Ms. Veena, were involved in money laundering along with Sasidharan Kartha, managing director of Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited, and his associates.

The information was shared with the State police under Section 66(2) of the PMLA, which provides that where the director is of the opinion that provisions of any other law in force have been contravened, the information shall be passed on to the concerned agency for necessary action. The scope of follow-up action was discussed in the light of recent Supreme Court judgments.

A final decision will be taken after a meeting between the Advocate General and Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan. The AG had earlier sought reports from the Additional Advocate General and the Director General of Prosecution on various aspects of the case.

The case has also seen political fallout. Some leaders, including State Ministers, had earlier acknowledged receiving funds from Mr. Kartha after a diary recording the payments surfaced, describing the money as contributions collected from an industrialist for their respective parties. A section of political leaders demanded a probe into these receipts.

In a related development over the past few days, Mr. Kartha and the former chief financial officer of CMRL were reported to have retracted the statements they gave to the ED, which formed the basis of the case. Both have accused the agency of pressuring them into giving false evidence against politicians.