Exalogic-CMRL payoff case: Keralam’s UDF govt orders police inquiry into ED report seeking action against Pinarayi Vijayan

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The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government in Keralam on Tuesday (September 22, 2026) ordered a police inquiry into the politically charged CMRL-Exalogic payoff controversy centring on Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter T. Veena, and son-in-law and former Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas. 

Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala signalled to reporters that “legal prerequisites, and not politics” as alleged by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), shaped the government’s decision. 

“In the Vijay Madanlal (Choudhary) versus the Union of India case, the Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement could not but act on the information shared on record by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under Section 66 (2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Neither the government nor the police have any latitude in the matter as per the legal advice proffered by the Advocate General”, he said. 

However, Mr Chennithala said the Supreme Court ruled in Lalita Kumari versus the State of Uttar Pradesh in 2013 that registering an FIR in a suspected commercial fraud or corruption case depends on whether the mandatory preliminary inquiry reveals a cognisable offence, tempering the demand for immediate registration of a case on the receipt of allegedly inculpatory third-party information. 

“I conferred the matter with Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan. The government has tasked the State Police Chief (SPC) with deciding the nature of the preliminary probe and the investigating agency. The government will issue the requisite order soon”, he added. 

Mr Chennithala refused to state whether the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) or the State Police Crime Branch would conduct the preliminary inquiry. “That is the prerogative of the SPC”, he added.

When asked whether the impending inquiry would be preliminary, Mr Chennithala replied: “I can only state that there would be an inquiry”. 

The ED had charged that CMRL, a chemical company in which the Keralam government has a minority stake, had camouflaged backhanders to Mr Vijayan, when he was Chief Minister, as retainers to Ms Veena’s now-defunct software firm Exalogic Solutions during 2017-2021 for consultancy services allegedly not provided. 

Last month, the ED had sent a 25-page report to the State Police Chief, Ravada Chandrasekhar, seeking Mr Vijayan’s prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1985 (PCA). The ED had also claimed in the report that it had confiscated a diary detailing the allegedly illicit financial transaction during a raid at Mr Vijayan’s house in Thiruvananthapuram in May. 

Mr Vijayan had disputed the existence of any incriminating entries in the diary. At the same time, Mr Riyas maintained that the personal journal contained scribblings about Ms Veena’s business plans in the Gulf, which, he claimed, had yet to materialise. 

At a press conference last week, Mr Satheesan flagged an allegedly inculpatory discrepancy between the two CPI(M) leaders’ statements. He also stated that the ED’s report contained serious allegations against the former Ministers.

An official attached to Mr Chennithala’s office told The Hindu that the Home Minister had suggested a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Crime Branch. “However, Mr Chennithala, following the AG’s advice, left the judgement to the SPC”, he added.

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