Kerala’s Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Monday booked former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter Veena, and son-in-law, Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) lawmaker PA Mohammed Riyas, under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act.
It registered two First Information Reports (FIRs) based on an Enforcement Directorate (ED) finding that Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) allegedly made monthly payments to Exalogic Solutions, the now-defunct firm of Veena, when Vijayan was the chief minister. Riyas has been named as the first accused in the second case. One FIR relates to alleged bribes to Vijayan through his daughter and the other to money allegedly routed abroad through hawala channels. Veena is an accused in both cases.
Officials familiar with the matter said the first FIR names Vijayan as the first accused.
Congress, which returned to power in Kerala this year, and the Bharatiya Janata Party alleged that the monthly payments to Veena and her firm in the absence of any services were essentially bribes paid to Vijayan in exchange for favours to CMRL in the mining sector. Vijayan and the CPI(M) dismissed the allegations. In February that year, the Karnataka high court dismissed Veena’s plea seeking to quash the probe.
In January 2024, the Union corporate affairs ministry ordered an inquiry into the allegations under the Companies Act.
A single-judge bench of the Kerala high court said the ED report contains sufficient information pointing to cognisable offences.
