Kerala High Court rejects Vijayan family's challenge to CMRL bribery FIR

The Kerala High Court rejected pleas by Pinarayi Vijayan and his family to challenge the CMRL case FIR. The ruling keeps the FIR intact while preserving their constitutional and statutory remedies.Stock photo used for illustrationThiruvananthapuram,Oct 15, 2026 17:46 ISTThe Kerala High Court has dismissed applications by former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter Veena T and her husband P A Mohamed Riyas seeking permission to challenge an order directing the registration of an FIR against them in the alleged CMRL bribery case, news agency Press Trust of India reported.The BJP and Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan welcomed the decision, while the CPI(M) claimed that the case was false, politically motivated and part of a planned move by the BJP and the UDF to target its leaders and the Left party.State Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said the High Court order was not a setback for the government, which had acted in accordance with the law and without any political vendetta.After the court denied permission to Vijayan, Veena and Riyas to appeal against the single judge's order directing the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to register an FIR, BJP leader Shone George said the former chief minister should resign as Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly if he had "a shred of shame", PTI reported. George said the state government could not help Vijayan any more than it already had since receiving a letter from the Enforcement Directorate seeking the registration of an FIR under the anti-corruption law against the CPI(M) veteran and his family members.CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan said 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 relatives 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 Enforcement Directorate and the UDF government to target Vijayan and Riyas and, through them, the Left party.CPI(M) 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.At a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, Kuzhalnadan welcomed the verdict. He said he had been ridiculed inside and outside the Assembly after the High Court dismissed his plea seeking action against Vijayan in the CMRL matter.The Congress MLA said he and his party now had ample opportunity to ridicule the former chief minister, but added that, considering Vijayan's age and years in politics, "we will not stoop to that level". He said that since both a single judge and a division bench had found no need for a preliminary inquiry after the Enforcement Directorate provided information, the government should correct its stand if required.A bench of Justices K Natarajan and Johnson John rejected the applications filed by Vijayan, Veena and Riyas seeking permission to appeal against the single judge's October 9 order, PTI reported. The bench held that "an accused in a corruption case has no legal right to be heard before registering the FIR".The court said their appeals were also dismissed following the rejection of their applications. It added that the October 9 order "has not affected the applicants' rights to pursue the constitutional statutory remedy against the registration of the FIR".The bench further said there was no need for a preliminary inquiry when the Enforcement Directorate provided sufficient material indicating cognisable offences along with information under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.The ruling leaves the FIR in place while allowing Vijayan, Veena and Riyas to pursue available constitutional and statutory remedies against its registration. The decision has drawn support from the BJP and Kuzhalnadan, while the CPI(M) has said it will challenge the case politically and legally.- Ends