The Kerala High Court will decide whether Pinarayi Vijayan and others may appeal the CMRL FIR order. The ruling could clarify hearing rights before court-directed criminal case registration.
Image used for representational purposes only
Kochi,Oct 14, 2026 22:20 IST
The Kerala High Court is likely to decide on Thursday whether former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and others can appeal against a single-judge order directing the registration of an FIR against them in the alleged CMRL bribery case.
Vijayan, his daughter Veena T and her husband P A Mohamed Riyas have claimed that the single judge did not hear them before issuing the October 9 order. The appeals followed the registration of two FIRs by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau's Special Investigation Unit-1 against Vijayan and his family members.
A bench of Justices K Natarajan and Johnson John will decide on the applications seeking permission to appeal against the single judge's order. The bench reserved its decision on October 13.
During the hearing that day, the bench asked the state government why it had ordered a preliminary enquiry after the Enforcement Directorate provided information about alleged offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act involving Vijayan, Veena and Riyas.
Advocate General Jaju Babu told the court that the government wanted to verify the allegations because the ED had not provided the state police with several other materials connected with the matter.
The bench also asked the appellants why they had not challenged the FIRs after their registration. It further asked whether an accused or a person likely to be named as an accused should always be heard before an FIR is registered in a criminal case.
Lawyers for the appellants argued that they should have been heard because the court was considering a writ petition and its order would affect them. They also said the appellants could not challenge the FIRs in court once the High Court had ordered their registration.
The appellants further claimed that the petition on which the single judge passed the order was in the nature of a public interest litigation. They argued that it should, therefore, have been heard by a division bench dealing with such petitions.
The High Court had on October 9 directed the registration of a case based on a report submitted by the ED to the state police. The ED sought the registration of a case based on evidence collected during its investigation and searches under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The agency has alleged that CMRL fraudulently paid Rs 2.78 crore to Veena's now-defunct company, Exalogic Solutions, under the guise of IT consultancy services.
The High Court will now decide whether Vijayan, Veena, Riyas and the other appellants can challenge the single-judge order that led to the registration of the two FIRs in the alleged bribery case.
- Ends