PIL for CBI probe against CMRL, Kerala CM: High Court seeks Centre, Vijayan's response

Kochi: The Kerala High Court has sought the response of the Centre and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on a plea alleging that he received kickbacks from a private mining company, and seeking a CBI probe into it.

A bench of Justices Amit Rawal and P M Manoj issued notice to the Centre, Vijayan, his daughter, her now-defunct IT firm Exalogic, the private mining company CMRL and SEBI among others, seeking their stand on the plea by a journalist, M R Ajayan.

The others who have been issued notice by the High Court include CMRL MD S N Sasidharan Kartha, his son, wife and son-in-law.

The High Court has also issued notice to the Interim Board of Settlement and asked it to file in a sealed cover the list of persons mentioned in its findings in connection with the Income Tax proceedings against CMRL.

The bench listed the matter for further hearing on May 27.

Ajayan has claimed that the Interim Board of Settlement, in connection with Income Tax proceedings against CMRL, had found that the mining company had made payments to Veena's firm.

He, in his petition filed through advocate Shaji Chirayath, has also alleged that money was routed to Vijayan through his daughter's firm by the company.

Besides seeking a CBI probe into the affairs of Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) and Exalogic and "their alleged political nexus" with Vijayan, the plea also seeks directions to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to delist the stock and shares of CMRL.

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) had earlier this month filed a chargesheet in the case against CMRL and various others, including Veena and her now-defunct IT firm Exalogic, in connection with an "illegal payment" scandal.

The reported SFIO action came nearly a week after the Kerala High Court dismissed a plea by Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan seeking a vigilance probe against Vijayan over the alleged financial transactions between private mining company CMRL and Exalogic.

According to the reports, the SFIO investigation has uncovered a Rs 182 crore financial fraud within the mining company, in which several others are also accused.

It stated that the fraud was carried out by inflating non-existent expenses and creating fake bills.

The SFIO investigation reportedly also found that Veena had received Rs 2.7 crore from the private mining company without providing any services, an allegation denied by Vijayan.