Pinarayi Vijayan, others left with two legal options after Kerala HC dismisses their writ appeals in CMRL payoff case

Keralam Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan and others are left with two legal options: challenging the registration of the First Information Report (FIR) against them for allegedly amassing wealth, or approaching the Supreme Court against the Kerala High Court order denying them leave to challenge a Single Judge’s order directing the registration of an FIR against them.

A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Thursday (October 15, 2026) dismissed the writ appeal filed by Mr. Vijayan, his daughter T. Veena and son-in-law P.A. Mohamed Riyas against the Single Judge’s order directing the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to register an FIR in connection with allegations of financial transactions between Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) and now-defunct firm Exalogic Solutions Pvt. Ltd., owned by Ms. Veena. The order followed a letter from the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) to the State Police Chief (SPC).

The ED had informed the SPC that it had found substantial information against the accused, who, according to the agency, had engaged in money laundering, an offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED subsequently registered cases against the accused under the PMLA and the Foreign Exchange Management Act, after the VACB registered a case on the orders of a Single Judge of the High Court.

Mr. Vijayan was arraigned as the first accused in both FIRs registered by the VACB. He was accused of entering into a criminal conspiracy with the others, abusing his official position and adopting corrupt means to obtain illicit pecuniary benefits for himself, his daughter and her company between 2016 and 2020. They were allegedly paid ₹3.28 crore by CMRL under the guise of providing information technology consultancy and marketing services, according to the FIR.

Mr. Riyas and Ms. Veena were accused of involvement in hawala transactions and the transfer of illicit cash to foreign countries through intermediaries in the second case registered by the VACB.

With the Division Bench dismissing the appeals, the accused can seek legal recourse by challenging the registration of the FIR before a Single Judge of the Kerala High Court through a criminal miscellaneous petition. They can also move the Supreme Court to challenge the Division Bench’s decision denying them permission to challenge the Single Judge’s order directing the registration of the FIR, according to legal experts close to the former Chief Minister.

The legal battle in the case, which involves high political stakes, recently unfolded before the Kerala High Court when K.M. Shajahan, a former private secretary to former Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, approached the court with a petition seeking a direction to the VACB to register an FIR against the accused following the ED’s letter to the VACB.

The case had put the State unit of the Congress in a political fix, as the party had been vociferously campaigning at the national level that the Union government was misusing investigative agencies to target its political opponents. At the same time, it could not politically afford to lose the opportunity to target its key opponent in the State, the CPI(M), and its leader, Mr. Vijayan.

Cautious stand by UDF govt

The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government in the State, represented by Advocate General K. Jaju Babu in the High Court, adopted a cautious stand in the politically sensitive case, arguing that it favoured a preliminary inquiry before registering an FIR.

However, the High Court’s order directing the registration of the FIR spared the Congress a political predicament while plunging the CPI(M), which had been relegated to the Opposition Benches after being in power continuously for a decade, into another round of organisational and legal wrangles.