The Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed two petitions seeking an investigation into the charges of corruption and misuse of power by high-ranking public officials in Kerala, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his daughter Veena Thaikkandiyil.
The single-judge Bench of Justice K Babu dismissed the criminal revision petitions filed by Congress Member of Legislative Assembly Mathew Kuzhalnadan and Gireesh Babu.
The petitioners challenged two orders passed by a vigilance court dismissing their plea seeking probe into the mining and other business interests of Cochin Mineral and Rutile Limited (CMRL).
While upholding the vigilance court’s order, the High Court, however, quashed an observation made by the trial court that Kuzhalnadan’s complaint was politically-motivated.
The petitions were filed before the vigilance court in the wake of a report by the Income Tax Department, which allegedly revealed that several bogus payments were made by CMRL to Exalogic and Thaikkandiyil under the pretext of availing IT and marketing-related services.
The petitioners alleged that neither Exalogic nor Thaikkandiyil had provided any service to CMRL but were given Rs 1.72 crore, which was received by CM Vijayan.
Kuzhalnadan alleged in his plea that CMRL was also engaged in illegal mining with the support of CM Vijayan. He added that this was evident from the bypassing of relevant statutes and orders of the Central government.
He further alleged that the 2018 floods, which had ravaged the State, were a man-made disaster that allowed the removal of huge quantities of sand from which minerals could be extracted.
The petition filed by Babu contended that high-ranking public officials, including the Chief Minister, the Leader of Opposition, Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala and other politicians such as Kunjali Kutty, VK Ibrahim Kunju and A Govindan, also received bribes from CMRL.
All of these persons were arraigned as accused in Babu’s plea.
The vigilance court had disposed of the plea filed by Babu in August 2023 and by Kuzhalnadan in January 2024.
The petitioners moved revision pleas before the High Court on the grounds that the vigilance court did not appreciate their complaints in their entirety. There was a prima facie case to establish the offences of corruption, they added.
Kuzhalnadan contended that the vigilance court’s rejection of the complaint violated the procedure laid out in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which in turn, rendered the order illegal.
He argued that his complaint could not have been rejected at the threshold and at best, could have been dismissed after examining the complaint and any witnesses.
He requested the High Court to set aside the order of the vigilance court and remand the original complaint for fresh consideration.
Meanwhile, Babu re-asserted that all the accused misused their official position and also caused a loss in public revenue. He urged the Court to set aside the vigilance court order and direct a probe by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau against the accused, including the Chief Minister and his daughter.
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