In a relief to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his daughter Veena Vijayan, the Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed two revision petitions challenging Vigilance Court orders that refused to order probes into corruption allegations against them and other public officials.
A single bench of Justice K Babu ruled, “Criminal revision petitions stand dismissed.”
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The order pertained to two criminal revision petitions—one filed by Gireesh Babu (since deceased) in 2023 against the Muvattupuzha Vigilance Court’s dismissal of his plea seeking an investigation into alleged bribery involving high-ranking public officials and Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL).
The other petition was filed by Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan against the Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Court’s rejection of his plea to investigate alleged payments by CMRL to Exalogic Solutions in exchange for favors from the Chief Minister.
Gireesh Babu’s petition accused Veena Vijayan and her company, Exalogic Solutions Pvt Ltd, of receiving illegal payments under the guise of her father’s influence.
Other public officials, including Congress MLA Ramesh Chennithala (former Leader of Opposition), MLA PK Kunhalikutty, former Public Works Minister VK Ibrahim Kunju, and A Govindan, were also named in the case for allegedly accepting illegal gratification.
The petitioner alleged that neither Exalogic nor Veena Vijayan provided any services to CMRL, yet received ₹1.72 crore from the company.
CMRL’s Managing Director Sasidharan Kartha, Chief Financial Officer KS Suresh Kumar, and Chief General Manager of Finance and Company Secretary P. Suresh Kumar were accused of facilitating the payments.
Mathew Kuzhalnadan’s petition further alleged that CMRL was involved in illegal mining operations with the Chief Minister’s support, bypassing relevant laws and central government orders.
Both complaints were dismissed by the Vigilance Court—Gireesh Babu’s in August 2023 and Kuzhalnadan’s in January 2024—prompting them to file revision petitions before the High Court.
They contended that the Vigilance Court had failed to fully consider their complaints, asserting that there was a prima facie case of corruption.
Kuzhalnadan argued that the Vigilance Court’s dismissal violated procedural rules under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), rendering the decision illegal.
He maintained that the court should have examined the complaint and witnesses before rejecting the plea.
Meanwhile, Gireesh Babu reiterated that the accused had misused their official positions, resulting in a loss of public revenue.
Both petitioners sought a fresh review of their complaints and an investigation by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau.
Reacting to the verdict, Mathew Kuzhalnadan vowed to continue his fight against corruption.
“My crusade against corruption will continue. I will discuss this with my party seniors after reviewing the full text of the order. When I took up this case, I knew I was challenging a powerful figure. I have no doubt that this was a corrupt deal,” he stated.
