Today, On 18th June, The Kerala High Court requested responses from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his daughter regarding a plea by Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan. Kuzhalnadan’s criminal revision petition challenges a vigilance court’s decision to dismiss his request for an investigation into financial transactions between Exalogic Solutions and CMRL.
Kerala: The Kerala High Court issued a notice to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter Veena Thaikkandiyil, and her firm Exalogic Solutions. This comes in response to a criminal revision petition filed by Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan. The petition alleges corruption in the dealings between Exalogic and Cochin Mineral and Rutile Ltd (CMRL).
The MLA’s plea challenged the vigilance court‘s decision to reject his request for an investigation into the financial transactions between Exalogic and CMRL. During the hearing before Justice K Babu, advocate Gilbert George Correya accepted the notice on behalf of Vijayan, Thaikkandiyil, and Exalogic.
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Kuzhalnadan’s complaint to the vigilance court stems from an Income Tax Department report, alleging that CMRL made several fraudulent payments to Exalogic and Thaikkandiyil, ostensibly for IT and marketing services. The complaint claims that neither Exalogic nor Thaikkandiyil provided any services to CMRL, yet they received Rs.1.72 crores, which ultimately went to CM Vijayan.
Additionally, Kuzhalnadan’s complaint argues that CMRL, with the support of the Chief Minister, engaged in illegal mining activities, circumventing relevant statutes and Central government orders.
The complaint further contended that the 2018 floods, which devastated the state, a man-made calamity engineered to facilitate the extraction of large quantities of sand for mineral extraction.
In 2023, Kuzhalnadan approached the vigilance court, requesting an investigation into alleged violations under Section 13(1)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, as well as Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention to commit a criminal act) of the Indian Penal Code.
However, in January of this year, the vigilance court dismissed the complaint, citing a lack of evidence for the alleged offenses and suggesting it was politically motivated.
Kuzhalnadan subsequently filed a revision petition, arguing that a thorough examination of the complaint by the vigilance court would reveal that the alleged offenses substantiated.
Kuzhalnadan asserted that the vigilance court’s dismissal of his complaint contravenes the procedures established by the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), thereby rendering the order unlawful.
He argued that his complaint should not have been summarily dismissed; at the very least, it warranted an examination of the complaint and any witnesses before a decision was made.
Kuzhalnadan maintained that the vigilance court‘s decision to reject the complaint violated the procedure outlined in Section 200 of the CrPC, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in various rulings.
On these grounds, among others, Kuzhalnadan petitioned the High Court to overturn the vigilance court‘s order and remit the original complaint for reconsideration.
The case scheduled to be heard next on July 2.
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Kuzhalnadan represented by advocates Bincy Job, Kuriakose Varghese, V Shyamohan, Sradhaxna Mudrika, and Kaveri Mohan.
On July 3, the Court will hear another petition challenging a separate vigilance court order that dismissed a request for an investigation into similar corruption allegations.
Additionally, politician Shone George filed a petition seeking a Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) probe into the business activities of Exalogic Solutions. The Central government informed the Court that the investigation currently in progress.