The ED has tightened its stand in the Kerala High Court concerning the CMRL-Exalogic monthly payment case involving Veena Vijayan. The ED expressed its dissatisfaction with the delay, from the side of the state government, in registering the case. The ED submitted that all necessary relevant information had been handed over to the state police in a sealed envelope. The ED maintained that there was no need for anymore ‘preliminary’ inquiry. Moreover, twenty days had passed since the documents were handed over. If at all any preliminary inquiry was needed, there had been enough time for it by now.
The ED submitted that evidence was handed over to the police after completing the preliminary inquiry. The ED wondered what the need was for a further preliminary inquiry.
The Court then asked the Advocate General of the State if the ED had not given complete evidence. He replied that the diary and other documents alone had been handed over.
The ED then made it clear that all evidence necessary for registering a corruption case had been handed over; if statements were necessary, they could also be handed over.
The Advocate General submitted before the Court that the case would be taken up after a preliminary inquiry. Advocate Jaishankar Nair, appearing for the ED, told the Court that the state police had not sought the statements. He argued that the ED report could be treated as a preliminary inquiry report and that an FIR could be registered on it.
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government had recently ordered a police inquiry based on the ED’s letter to the State Police Chief. The ED’s letter sought a probe against former CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Veena and her husband, and former minister P.A. Mohammed Riyas.
The ED has sought registration of a case based on “evidence” collected as part of the probe and raids conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED had claimed that CMRL had made fraudulent payments of Rs. 2.78 crore to Veena’s company, Exalogic Solutions. It was under the guise of remuneration for IT consultancy jobs. The company is now defunct.
The Court was hearing the petition filed by the ED against the delay in registering the case. The Court granted permission to the police to carry out the preliminary inquiry. The Court deferred the judgment in the petition.
