Kerala High Court told police must register FIR in CMRL-Exalogic case
The Enforcement Directorate has told the Kerala High Court that State police must register a First Information Report to investigate an alleged predicate offence uncovered during its money-laundering probe involving Exalogic and its director Veena T. The court will next consider whether a preliminary inquiry may precede registration of the FIR.
The Enforcement Directorate has told the Kerala High Court that Kerala Police must register a First Information Report to investigate an alleged predicate offence uncovered during its probe into the CMRL-Exalogic case. The ED made the submission before Justice A. Badharudeen on September 26.
It said information about an offence within the jurisdiction of the State police emerged while it was investigating alleged violations of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act involving Veena T., her company Exalogic, and related parties. The agency said it had shared the information with the State Police Chief. On September 7, it sent a detailed report seeking registration of a separate FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act and other relevant laws against Pinarayi Vijayan, Mohammed Riyas and Ms.
Veena. According to the report described in court, the ED accused Mr. Vijayan of receiving a bribe of ₹3.28 crore through his daughter.
The source material does not record a finding by the court on that allegation. The petition was filed by lawyer K.M. Shajahan, who sought an FIR and an investigation into allegations including intentional enrichment of Mr.
Vijayan, abetment under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and money-laundering by Ms. Veena and Mr. Riyas, Mr.
Vijayan’s son-in-law and a former Public Works Minister. The court noted that the ED and Mr. Shajahan shared the position that a preliminary inquiry was not necessary before registering an FIR into an alleged predicate offence revealed during a PMLA investigation.
Advocate General K. Jaju Babu argued that, if the ED was concerned about alleged police inaction, it should have approached the court itself. He also questioned the petition’s public-interest character, while the petitioner rejected the suggestion of a private interest.
The court will consider whether the State police may conduct a preliminary inquiry before registering an FIR after receiving information from the ED. The matter is due to be listed again the following week for a detailed hearing.
This independently written report is based on information supplied by the named publisher. Vertrix News has not independently verified the source report.