Kerala HC directs FIR aginst Vijayan, daughter based on ED report

The Kerala High Court has directed registration of FIR against former Chief Minister Vijayan, his daughter, her husband in the CMRL-Exalogic bribery case.The High Court pronounced the dicesion after the ED report agianst three. Justice A. Badharudeen on Friday pronounced in open court in the writ petition filed by KM Shahjahan. The plea was to incorporate provisions of the Prevention of Corruption act and register an FIR against Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter Veena Vijayan and son-in-law P A Mohammed Riyas based on findings shared by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
During the hearing, the court asked whether the state police had the discretion to initiate a preliminary enquiry after receiving information about alleged offences from the ED. The ED's counsel argued that the police had no such discretion and were required to register an FIR. The agency said its investigation into the CMRL case had uncovered material indicating possible offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, which was subsequently shared with the state police under Section 66(2) of the PMLA.
Earlier,the ED had forwarded its findings to the State Police Chief under Section 66(2) of the PMLA, seeking registration of a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act and other provisions against Pinarayi Vijayan, Veena Vijayan and Mohammed Riyas. The communication followed the agency's investigation into alleged financial transactions involving Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) and Exalogic Solutions Pvt Ltd, a company associated with Veena Vijayan.The ED has alleged that payments made by CMRL to Exalogic were not backed by corresponding services and formed part of a larger alleged bribery arrangement. These  allegations have not been established by a court.
The ED on September 28 this year had told the Kerala High Court that an FIR could be registered based on the report it had submitted to the state police seeking registration of a case under the anti-graft law against former Keralam Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and others in connection with the alleged CMRL bribery case. The contention was opposed by the state government, which claimed that the report submitted by the agency was not sufficient to register an FIR and that a preliminary inquiry was required. 
The state government claimed that the report did not contain the statements recorded by the ED in support of its allegations against Vijayan, his daughter Veena T and her husband (former minister) P A Mohamed Riyas.After hearing both sides, Justice A Badharudeen reserved his judgment on a plea by advocate K M Shajahan, who contended that the police should register an FIR rather than conduct a preliminary inquiry.The Congress-led UDF government in Keralam recently ordered a police inquiry based on the ED’s letter to the State Police Chief seeking a probe against Vijayan, Veena and Riyas.