Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 21 (PTI) CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan on Wednesday welcomed the Supreme Court decision staying for a week the probe against former Keralam chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his family members in the alleged CMRL bribery case, saying that it upholds the rule of law.
State Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, on the other hand, claimed that the apex court has not set aside the FIR and therefore, the action taken by the Congress-led UDF government has been proved as correct.
Chennithala, in a statement, contended that the probe in the case has been stayed for a week to enable Vijayan and others to file their appeal and argue the matter before the Kerala High Court.
Govindan told reporters that the apex court order was an encouraging one for the party which had right from the start termed the case as politically motivated and had made it clear it would be dealt with both legally and politically.
The CPI(M) state secretary claimed that the top court said that the Kerala High Court should have considered the appeal by Vijayan, his daughter Veena T and her husband P A Mohamed Riyas against the single judge order of October 9 to lodge an FIR against them.
“The rule of law has been upheld by the Supreme Court verdict,” he contended.
The minister said that the state government took the decision to carefully examine the letter sent by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to register a case against Vijayan, Veena and Riyas under the Prevention of Corruption Act and did not act in haste.
He said that the government, based on legal advice, decided to order a preliminary enquiry in the matter and registered an FIR only after the High Court directed it.
Chennithala said that it is understood from the apex court verdict that it has accepted the government’s approach in the matter.
A bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana allowed Vijayan, and others to approach the division bench of the High Court against the October 9 order.
On October 15, the Kerala High Court rejected the applications of Vijayan, Veena and Riyas to file an appeal against the October 9 order, while holding that “an accused in a corruption case has no legal right to be heard before registering the FIR.”
The appeals before the high court were moved in the wake of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau’s (VACB) Special Investigation Unit-1 registering two FIRs against Vijayan and his family members in connection with the case.
The ED had sought registration of a case based on evidence gathered during its investigation and searches conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The agency has alleged that CMRL made fraudulent payments of Rs 2.78 crore to Veena’s now-defunct company, Exalogic Solutions, under the guise of IT consultancy services. PTI HMP ADB
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