CM Satheesan denies haste in FIR against Pinarayi Vijayan family

Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan defended the FIR against Pinarayi Vijayan and his family in the alleged CMRL bribery case. The High Court ruling intensified political clashes over due process, corruption and vendetta claims.Image used for representational purposes onlyThiruvananthapuram,Oct 15, 2026 20:10 ISTKerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Thursday said the state government did not act in undue haste after receiving an Enforcement Directorate letter seeking an FIR against former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his family members in the alleged CMRL bribery case, Press Trust of India reported.Satheesan said the government sought legal advice before ordering a preliminary inquiry and later registered the FIR after the Kerala High Court ruled that such an inquiry was unnecessary.Addressing a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, Satheesan said he had discussed the matter with state Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, senior Cabinet ministers and United Democratic Front leaders. They collectively decided to seek a legal opinion on how to proceed."We did not act in undue haste as this government will not abuse the power it has to settle scores or political vendettas. We took legal advice and acted in accordance with that to initiate a preliminary enquiry into the allegations by the Enforcement Directorate," Satheesan said, according to PTI. He said the government implemented the High Court order when it ruled that there was no need for a preliminary inquiry and directed the registration of an FIR. "So we acted in accordance with the law," he said.Satheesan was responding to questions about the High Court dismissing applications by Vijayan, his daughter Veena T and her husband P A Mohamed Riyas to challenge an October 9 order by a single judge. The order had directed the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to register an FIR against them on the basis of the ED report in the alleged CMRL bribery case. Home Minister Chennithala said the High Court order was not a setback for the government, which had acted according to the law and without political vendetta.BJP leader Shone George and Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan welcomed the verdict. George told reporters that if the former chief minister "has a shred of shame", he should resign as Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly. He said the state government could not help Vijayan any further after receiving the ED letter seeking an FIR under the anti-corruption law against him and his family members.BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said in a post on X: "In India, you can run, but you cannot hide if you are a corrupt politician. Today's High Court judgment is decisive and clear. @pinarayivijayan must resign immediately." He also accused the Congress of "opportunistic politics", saying it had not hesitated to register FIRs against BJP councillors and the mayor in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation but had shown "reluctance" to act against Vijayan.The CPI(M), however, described the case against Vijayan, Veena and Riyas as "false and politically motivated" and alleged that it was "a planned move" by the BJP and the UDF to target them and the Left party.CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan told reporters that the party would deal with the matter politically and legally after examining the judgment. He said the state government should have appealed against the single judge's order instead of implementing it immediately.Govindan claimed that the High Court did not allow Vijayan and his family members to appeal because the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau had already registered an FIR. He described the vigilance case as a planned move by the ED and the UDF government to target Vijayan and Riyas and, through them, the CPI(M). Party leader and former state minister M B Rajesh made a similar allegation, accusing the UDF government of failing to appeal and registering the FIR in haste.Kuzhalnadan said that he had been ridiculed inside and outside the Assembly after the High Court dismissed his plea seeking action against Vijayan in the CMRL matter. He said the Congress and he now had ample opportunity to ridicule the former chief minister, but added that, considering Vijayan's age and long political career, "we will not stoop to that level".The Congress MLA said the government should correct its position if necessary, as both a single judge and a division bench had held that no preliminary inquiry was required after the ED provided the information.A bench of Justices K Natarajan and Johnson John rejected the applications by Vijayan, Veena and Riyas, holding that "an accused in a corruption case has no legal right to be heard before registering the FIR". It said their appeals were consequently dismissed but clarified that the October 9 order had not affected their right to pursue constitutional and legal remedies against the FIR.The bench also held that a preliminary inquiry was unnecessary when the ED supplied sufficient material indicating offences requiring police investigation under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.The dispute centres on the registration of the FIR against Vijayan and his family members in the alleged CMRL bribery case. While the government said it followed legal advice and the High Court's directions, the BJP and Congress welcomed the ruling and the CPI(M) alleged political motivation.- Ends