Kerala High Court Denies Stay on FIR Against Former CM Pinarayi Vijayan in Bribery Case

Court's Decision on Bribery Allegations

Kochi: The Kerala High Court has refused to grant an interim stay on a previous ruling that directed the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to file a First Information Report (FIR) against former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and others involved in the alleged CMRL bribery scandal.

A bench comprising Justices K Natarajan and Johnson John stated that the court must first address the applications for permission to appeal against the single judge's order before considering any requests for a stay.

The court was reviewing applications submitted by Vijayan, his daughter Veena T, and her spouse P A Mohamed Riyas, who sought to appeal the single judge's directive issued on October 9.

The bench emphasized that the petitions need to be numbered and admitted before a stay could be contemplated, outlining the necessary procedural steps.

During the pre-lunch session, the bench inquired why the state government initiated a preliminary inquiry following information provided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) regarding alleged violations of the Prevention of Corruption Act involving Vijayan, Veena, and Riyas.

Advocate General Jaju Babu explained that the government opted for a preliminary inquiry to verify the allegations, as the ED had not supplied all relevant materials to the state police.

In their appeals, Vijayan, Veena, and Riyas argued that they were not given an opportunity to present their case before the single judge issued the order to file the FIR.

The bench also questioned the appellants on why they had not contested the FIR since it had already been filed.

Additionally, the court raised the issue of whether an accused individual should always be given a chance to be heard prior to the registration of an FIR in criminal cases.

The appellants' legal representatives contended that they should have been consulted, as the court was addressing a writ petition that could impact them.

They argued that this situation was not typical of a police officer registering an FIR in the usual course of duty.

The lawyers further claimed that once the High Court mandated the filing of an FIR, the appellants could not challenge it in court.

They also asserted that the petition leading to the single judge's order was framed as a public interest litigation, which should have been reviewed by a division bench specializing in PILs.

These appeals were filed following the VACB's Special Investigation Unit-1 registering two FIRs against Vijayan and his family members in relation to the alleged CMRL bribery case.

On October 9, the Kerala High Court instructed the registration of a case based on a report from the ED submitted to the state police.

The ED had requested the case registration based on evidence collected during its investigation and searches conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The agency has accused CMRL of making fraudulent payments totaling Rs 2.78 crore to Veena's now-defunct company, Exalogic Solutions, disguised as IT consultancy services.