KOCHI: In a ruling that could trigger ripples in state politics, the Kerala High Court on Friday directed the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to register an FIR against former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, daughter Veena T, and son-in-law and former minister P A Mohamed Riyas in the CMRL-Exalogic payoff case.
The court also quashed the state government’s decision to constitute a special investigation team (SIT) to conduct a preliminary inquiry based on Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) information without registering an FIR.
“When the information, along with the supporting statements recorded and documents obtained, discloses the commission of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act by the persons concerned, a further preliminary inquiry into the facts of the case is unwarranted,” the court observed.
It stated that when information is forwarded under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to register an FIR based on inputs gathered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that disclose the commission of a scheduled offence or offences, the state police are obligated to register an FIR. The court added that this does not exempt the notified agency from conducting a preliminary independent inquiry where necessary. “However, in the present case, the information forwarded by the ED to the state police chief contained detailed material concerning the alleged corporate fraud involving CMRL and Exalogic. Therefore, no further preliminary inquiry was necessary before registering an FIR,” the court held.
Justice A Badharudeen passed the order on a petition filed by activist-lawyer K M Shajahan, challenging the state government’s decision to conduct a preliminary inquiry through a crime branch SIT instead of registering a corruption case.
Advocate V Sethunath, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the government’s decision to conduct a preliminary inquiry was motivated by an ulterior intention to shield the accused.
High Court: Govt decision to form SIT without registering FIR illegal
He also contended that the Director General of Police (DGP) had no authority to constitute such a special team.
The court observed that, apart from the notebooks and diaries, the information forwarded by the ED to the state police chief contained sufficient material, including statements from several witnesses and the suspected persons. “The decision of the government to form a special team to conduct an inquiry without registering an FIR is found to be illegal in the facts of the case and, therefore, the same is set aside,” the court held.
It directed the SIT, which is in possession of the information received under Section 66(2) of the PMLA, to hand it over forthwith to the VACB director to register an FIR and proceed further in accordance with the law. The court also directed the ED to forward all necessary documents to the VACB. It also gave the VACB the liberty to call for any additional documents required for the investigation after registering the FIR.
Opposing the petition, Advocate General Jaju Babu submitted that the state government was not legally bound to register an FIR merely upon receiving information under Section 66(2) of the PMLA. He argued that the government had the option to conduct a preliminary inquiry to ascertain the veracity of the allegations contained in the information forwarded by the ED. The AG also contended that the entries in the diary maintained by CMRL’s authorised representative had no evidentiary value. Advocate Jaisankar V Nair, appearing for the ED, submitted that the materials collected during the investigation under the PMLA disclosed the commission of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
