Maintain status quo in trial court proceedings in SFIO complaint against CMRL, others: Kerala HC

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday ordered a two-month status quo in the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) case, involving Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter, which is pending in a sessions court here.

Justice T R Ravi issued the interim direction on a plea moved by the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd challenging the sessions court's decision to take cognisance of the SFIO complaint against it.

Additional Solicitor General of India (ASGI) ARL Sundaresan, who represented the Union government in the matter, confirmed the High Court's order and said that no notice or summon can be issued to the parties, including Vijayan's daughter Veena T, by the sessions court.

The ASGI said that the company had sought a stay of the cognisance taken by the sessions court, but the High Court did not grant it.

The SFIO had earlier this month filed a chargesheet in the case against CMRL and various others, including Veena and her now-defunct IT firm Exalogic, in connection with an alleged "illegal payment" scandal.

The reported SFIO action came nearly a week after the Kerala High Court dismissed a plea by Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan seeking a vigilance probe against Vijayan over the alleged financial transactions between private mining company CMRL and Exalogic.

According to the reports, the SFIO investigation has uncovered a Rs 182 crore "financial fraud" within the mining company, in which several others are also accused.

It stated that the fraud was carried out by inflating non-existent expenses and creating fake bills.

The SFIO investigation reportedly found that Veena had received Rs 2.7 crore from the private mining company without providing any services, an allegation denied by Vijayan recently at a press conference.