New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed for a week the investigation into the alleged CMRL bribery case involving former Keralam chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter Veena T, and her husband, P A Mohamed Riyas.
A bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana allowed Vijayan and the others to approach a division bench of the Kerala High Court challenging a single judge's order directing the registration of a case.
On 15 October, the Kerala High Court rejected the applications filed by Vijayan, Veena and Riyas seeking permission to appeal against the single judge's 9 October order. The court had held that "an accused in a corruption case has no legal right to be heard before registering the FIR."
In their appeals before the high court, the three argued that the single judge had directed the registration of the FIR without hearing them.
They also contended that the petition on which the 9 October order was passed was in the form of a public interest litigation (PIL) and should therefore have been heard by a division bench, which deals with PILs.
Also Read:
The appeals were filed after the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau's (VACB) Special Investigation Unit-1 registered two FIRs against Vijayan and his family members in connection with the case.
On 9 October, the Kerala High Court directed the VACB to register a case based on a report submitted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to the state police.
The ED had sought the 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 Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) made fraudulent payments of Rs 2.78 crore to Veena's now-defunct company, Exalogic Solutions, under the guise of IT consultancy services.
