Supreme Court declines to entertain plea by Congress MLA against Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, daughter

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea by Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan, seeking a probe against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his daughter, Veena Vijayan, in connection with alleged financial dealings involving the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL).

As soon as the matter came up, a bench of Chief Justice of India B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran said the court is not keen to admit the Congress MLA's plea.

"We have been consistently saying that you fight your political battles before the electorate and not in the court," the bench said.

On March 28, the Kerala High Court had dismissed Kuzhalnadan's plea seeking a probe against the chief minister over the alleged financial transactions between his daughter's now-defunct IT firm and the CMRL, a private mining company.

The petitioner’s counsel contended that that the high court at some stage finds that there is something to be looked at. However, the bench did not agree with this contention and said that the high court did not say so.

He contended it is a fact that there was a contract between CMRL and Exalogic and Rs 1.72 crore was paid to the latter.

The counsel also pointed out that CMRL had admitted before the Income Tax Interim Settlement Board that no services were rendered by the IT company.

He said that the high court says this creates suspicion, but also says that the complaint at the pre-cognisance stage must be such that it must be proven facts. However, his contention could not convince the bench, which reiterated that the court should not be used as a forum for political battles and declined to entertain the plea.