NEW DELHI: Former Keralam Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Kerala High Court’s order to register an FIR in the alleged Rs 278-crore CMRL-Exalogic payoff case.
In a setback to Vijayan and his kin, the Kerala High Court on Thursday dismissed their pleas to file appeals against a single-judge direction to lodge an FIR against them in the alleged CMRL bribery case.
Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for the former CM -- and other accused persons -- pleaded to the apex court for an urgent hearing to the plea on the ground that he is an 82-year-old man facing possible arrest in the case.
Luthra also urged the bench to grant Vijayan protection from coercive action.
But the top Court refused to grant an urgent hearing. The CJI said the matter would be heard when the apex court re-opens on October 26 after the Dussehra break.
The CJI also said he may constitute a bench during the holidays next week, subject to the availability of judges.
A division bench of the high court rejected the applications of Vijayan, his daughter Veena T and her husband P A Mohamed Riyas to file an appeal against the single judge's October 9 order, while holding that “an accused in a corruption case has no legal right to be heard before registering the FIR”.
It said that since the applications are dismissed, their appeals are also dismissed consequently.
Vijayan, Veena and Riyas, in their appeals before the division bench, had claimed that they were not heard by the single judge before issuing the October 9 direction to lodge the FIR.
The high court on October 9 directed the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to register a case based on a report submitted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to the state police.
The ED had sought 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.
(With inputs from PTI)