The Kerala government has initiated an investigation into former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his son-in-law, Mohamed Riyas, concerning the alleged CMRL bribery case. This action follows a request from the Enforcement Directorate, which presented evidence suggesting fraudulent payments of Rs 2.78 crore by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) to Veena's firm, Exalogic Solutions, for IT consultancy services. The state government's decision was made after receiving a legal opinion and is expected to escalate political tensions within the state.

The Kerala government has initiated an investigation into former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his son-in-law, Mohamed Riyas, concerning the alleged CMRL bribery case. This action follows a request from the Enforcement Directorate, which presented evidence suggesting fraudulent payments of Rs 2.78 crore by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) to Veena's firm, Exalogic Solutions, for IT consultancy services. The state government's decision was made after receiving a legal opinion and is expected to escalate political tensions within the state.

The Kerala government has initiated an investigation into former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his son-in-law, Mohamed Riyas, concerning the alleged CMRL bribery case. This action follows a request from the Enforcement Directorate, which presented evidence suggesting fraudulent payments of Rs 2.78 crore by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) to Veena's firm, Exalogic Solutions, for IT consultancy services. The state government's decision was made after receiving a legal opinion and is expected to escalate political tensions within the state.

The Kerala government on Tuesday ordered an investigation against former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his son-in-law and ex-minister Mohamed Riyas in connection with the alleged CMRL bribery case.

The decision was finalised following a high-level meeting between Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala and State Police Chief DGP Ravada A. Chandrasekhar.

The probe stems from an official letter sent by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to Chandrasekhar. Citing evidence gathered during money laundering investigations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the ED had requested the registration of an FIR against Vijayan, his daughter T. Veena, Riyas, and several others.

According to the ED, Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) made fraudulent payments totaling Rs 2.78 crore to Veena's now-defunct firm, Exalogic Solutions, under the guise of "IT consultancy services".

Upon receiving the ED's request, the state government sought a formal legal opinion from Advocate General (AG) Jaju Babu. Following detailed consultations with Director General of Prosecution T. Asaf Ali and Additional AG P. Muhammad Shah, the AG advised that the government and state police could proceed based on the ED’s findings.

The AG reportedly relied on previous Supreme Court rulings which held that, on receipt of information from the ED, the state police are bound to register an FIR, if there is a cognizable offence, or a non-cognizable offence case (NC), whichever is applicable in the circumstances.

Chennithala on Saturday said that the government had received the AG's legal opinion and was examining the same. He said that further steps would be taken following discussions with the chief minister.

The government’s decision to launch a probe against Vijayan and Riyas is likely to spark a fresh political storm with the CPI(M) accusing the ED of targeting the party and the former chief minister.

CPI(M) general secretary M.A. Baby had alleged that the BJP leadership was targeting Kerala and would get the support and cooperation of the Congress and the UDF to make inroads into the state.

TAGS