THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Vigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau on Thursday informed the Special Vigilance court here that it cannot register a case against CM Pinarayi Vijayan and his daughter Veena T under the Prevention of Corruption Act since the allegation levelled by Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan against did not come under the ambit of the act.
The report, which was signed by the Vigilance Director, also cited that since the same allegation is being considered by the High Court, the petition filed by the Congress legislator should not be accepted.
Kuzhalnadan had filed a petition on February 29 against the CM, his daughter and five others alleging that the Kochi-based Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) had received favours from the CM and in return the firm owned by CM's daughter was paid a kickback to the tune of Rs 1.72 crore.
Kuzhalnadan had alleged that the kickback was paid disguised as the fee for providing marketing and software services. The detailed hearing on Kuzhalnadan's petition will be heard on March 27.
The state government had earlier objected to the court's receiving the petition on file. The objection was overruled by the court, which granted the government 15 days to file its response.