Kerala High Court rejects appeal bid in CMRL case

A Kerala High Court Division Bench on October 15 dismissed applications by Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter Veena T and Mohammed Riyas seeking permission to appeal an order directing the registration of an FIR in the CMRL-Exalogic case. The bench said its decision did not prevent them from pursuing other constitutional or statutory remedies against the FIR. The applications challenged an October 9 order by a single judge directing the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to register an FIR. The order followed material forwarded by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to state authorities concerning alleged payments from Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) to Exalogic, a company associated with Veena. The allegations remain unproven and the court’s decision on the appeal applications is not a finding of criminal wrongdoing. Vijayan, Veena and Riyas argued that the single judge had issued the direction without hearing them. They also challenged the route by which the original petition was considered.