Supreme Court Declines Urgent Hearing on Vijayan Plea

The Supreme Court on October 16 declined to hear urgently former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s challenge to an order directing registration of a corruption case, while the Enforcement Directorate summoned him for questioning on October 23. Vijayan is seeking protection from arrest or other coercive action as the case proceeds. The Supreme Court bench, led by Chief Justice Surya Kant and including Justice Joymalya Bagchi, said the plea could be considered during the Dussehra recess if a bench could be constituted, subject to judges’ availability. Otherwise, the matter would be listed when the court reopens on October 26. The Enforcement Directorate’s summons requires Vijayan to appear at its Kochi zonal office. The agency’s summons and the Supreme Court’s decision came on the same day, following a Kerala High Court ruling dismissing appeals by Vijayan, his daughter Veena T and her husband, P.A. Mohamed Riyas. The High Court division bench upheld a single judge’s direction to the state Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to register an FIR based on material submitted by the Enforcement Directorate. It held that an accused in a corruption case has no right to be heard...