Kerala High Court orders FIR against Pinarayi Vijayan in CMRL bribery case

The Kerala High Court ordered the VACB to register an FIR in the alleged CMRL bribery case against Pinarayi Vijayan and others. The ruling also struck down the state's preliminary enquiry route, sharpening the legal and political stakes.Kochi,Oct 9, 2026 14:22 ISTThe Kerala High Court on Friday directed the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to register an FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Pinarayi Vijayan and others in the alleged CMRL bribery case, holding that the material shared by the Enforcement Directorate disclosed cognisable offences. The court also set aside the state government's decision to have a Special Investigation Team conduct a preliminary enquiry into the allegations.Justice A Badharudeen said the information given by the ED, along with statements and documents, contained sufficient primary material to proceed directly with an FIR. The order named Vijayan, his daughter Veena T and her husband P A Mohamed Riyas, a sitting CPI(M) MLA, in connection with the case.The court said, "When the information, along with the support of statements recorded and documents obtained, shows the commission of offences under the PC Act by the persons referred to in the information, a further preliminary enquiry, into the facts of the case, is found to be totally unwarranted." It also said the ED report contained enough material to register an FIR directly and investigate it."Thus, in the facts and circumstances of this case, no further enquiry is required in the instant case and the matters disclosed in the information under section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) make it obligatory for the State Police to register the FIR, ruling out the scope of any other enquiry," the court said. In a further setback to the state government's stand, the court held that its decision to form a special team to conduct an enquiry without registering an FIR was illegal. "The decision of the government to form a special team to conduct an enquiry as per Ext.P9 (ED report) without registering an FIR is found illegal on the facts of the case and therefore, the same is set aside," it said.The court noted that apart from notebooks and diaries, the information passed on by the ED to the DGP included statements of several witnesses and suspected persons. It specifically directed the Director of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Thiruvananthapuram, to "forthwith" register an FIR on the basis of the information furnished by the ED under the PMLA for offences disclosed under the Prevention of Corruption Act against the suspected persons. It also directed the VACB to register the FIR, "investigate the allegations through competent officers of the VACB" and file a final report without delay. The DGP or the head of the SIT holding the ED material was asked to hand it over to the VACB "forthwith" for registering the FIR."In this connection, the ED is directed to forward all necessary documents to the 3rd respondent (VACB), forthwith, and the 3rd respondent is free to call for any other documents required for the purpose of investigation after registering the FIR," the court said.The directions came while allowing a plea by advocate K M Shajahan, who argued that the police should register an FIR instead of holding a preliminary inquiry into the allegations in the ED report. During the hearing, the ED said an FIR could be registered against Vijayan, Veena and Mohamed Riyas on the basis of the report it had submitted to the state police.The state government had opposed that stand, arguing that the agency's report was not enough to register an FIR and that a preliminary inquiry was needed. The Congress-led UDF government had recently ordered a police inquiry on the basis of the ED's letter to the State Police Chief seeking a probe against Vijayan, Veena and Riyas.Following the verdict, CPI(M) leaders John Brittas, P Jayarajan and M V Jayarajan said Vijayan was being targeted through central agencies and that the matter would be dealt with both legally and politically. Brittas said the court should examine all transactions related to CMRL because, according to a list released by BJP leader Shone George, several senior UDF leaders had also allegedly received funds from the mining company.P Jayarajan and M V Jayarajan described the case against Vijayan as false and a "political conspiracy". They also claimed that natural justice had been denied because the former chief minister and others were not heard by the court before the order was passed.George said Vijayan was no longer eligible to continue as the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and demanded his resignation. State Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said the order was not a setback for the government, as it had acted on legal opinion, and added that the next course of action would be decided after studying the judgment.The ED has sought registration of a case on the basis of what it called evidence gathered during its probe and searches under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. It has alleged that Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited made fraudulent payments of Rs 2.78 crore to Veena's now-defunct company, Exalogic Solutions, under the guise of "IT consultancy services", and the High Court has now directed that the matter be investigated through a formal FIR without any further preliminary enquiry.- Ends