KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed a review petition filed by M R Ajayan of Kochi against an order of the vacation bench that had imposed costs totalling Rs 40,000 in connection with a public interest litigation (PIL) related to the CMRL–Exalogic case.
The costs were imposed after Ajayan filed applications seeking an urgent hearing of a PIL filed by him, demanding a CBI probe into the alleged financial transactions between Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) and Exalogic Solutions, a now-defunct company owned by T Veena, daughter of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
The vacation bench had observed that it convenes to hear urgent and important matters, and not routine cases. It also noted the absence of Ajayan’s counsel during the proceedings, and imposed the costs.
When the review petition came up for hearing on Tuesday, the High Court dismissed it, observing that “there is absolutely no merit in the review petition.”
The bench also stated that “Considering the circumstances under which Section 8 petitions (generally filed before a vacation bench when the matter is of urgent nature) were filed in matters pending before the court by citing an urgency that was never there (a fact noticed by the vacation bench that passed the order), we find no error apparent on the face of the record that would warrant a review of the order. It is also significant, as noted by the division bench in the order, that on the date when the matter was posted before the vacation court, there was no representation on behalf of the petitioner.”