Two dates frame Pinarayi Vijayan’s plea: a Supreme Court vacation bench will hear his challenge to the Kerala High Court’s vigilance FIR direction on October 21, two days before the Enforcement Directorate wants him to appear on October 23.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court will sit specially on October 21, during the Dussehra vacation, to hear a plea by former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan against the Kerala High Court’s direction to register a vigilance case in the CMRL-Exalogic matter. He seeks a stay of the proceedings and protection from arrest or other coercive action [Pinarayi Vijayan v. Adv. K M Shajahan and Others].
Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana make up the vacation bench. Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra, for Vijayan, had sought urgent listing on October 16, describing it as a matter of liberty and citing the fear of imminent arrest; the Chief Justice of India indicated that the Court would explore a special bench during the break, depending on the availability of judges. Regular sittings resume on October 26. A plea by the YSR Congress Party on municipal poll nominations in Andhra Pradesh is also listed on October 21.
The High Court’s direction
At the centre are payments between Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) and Exalogic Solutions, a firm formerly run by Vijayan’s daughter Veena T. A single judge of the Kerala High Court on October 9 directed the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to register a criminal case under the Prevention of Corruption Act on information forwarded by the Enforcement Directorate, which has carried out searches under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Vijayan’s counsel contends that the order was passed in proceedings resembling a public interest litigation.
On October 15 a Division Bench of Justice K Natarajan and Justice Johnson John dismissed the appeals filed by Vijayan, Veena and P A Mohammed Riyas. It held that an accused in a corruption case has no legal right to be heard before an FIR is registered and none to insist on a preliminary inquiry. The petitioners remain free, the Bench added, to seek constitutional or statutory remedies, among them a writ petition under Article 226 to quash an FIR before cognizance and Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita after cognizance. Veena and Riyas have separately gone to the Supreme Court against the direction to register the FIR.
Why October 23 matters
On October 16 the Enforcement Directorate also issued summons under the PMLA, asking Vijayan to appear for questioning on October 23. Vijayan, now Leader of the Opposition in Kerala, is looking for protection before that date.
The allegations in the FIR and in the ED’s material are untested, the Supreme Court has so far expressed no view on the merits, and the presumption of innocence applies to all those named. The responses of the State and the ED to the plea will be known only at the hearing.
Case Title: Pinarayi Vijayan v. Adv. K M Shajahan and Others (appeal against Kerala High Court judgment in the CMRL-Exalogic matter)
Bench: Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana, Supreme Court (vacation bench)
Date of Hearing: October 21, 2026
Appearances: Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra for Pinarayi Vijayan