The Special Vigilance Court in Muvattupuzha on Saturday dismissed a plea seeking vigilance probe into the alleged bribe paid by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter Veena Vijayan and others.
The petition, filed by Kalamassery native Gireesh Babu, was dismissed citing lack of evidence. The court said that it cannot order an investigation in the absence of evidence.
The petitioner demanded that a case be registered and an investigation be conducted under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Girish Babu, who sought the probe citing revelations by the Income Tax Interim Board of Settlement (ITIBS), New Delhi, named Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter Veena Vijayan and UDF leaders Ramesh Chennithala, PK Kunhalikutty, and V K Ebrahimkunju in the petition.
Veena’s company Exalogic Solutions, CMRL, its MD SN Sasidharan Kartha, Chief Financial Officer KS Suresh Kumar, Chief General Manager P Suresh Kumar and cashier K M Vasudevan have also been named in the petition.
Gireesh Babu, in his petition alleged that the CMRL got undue advantage, special rights and consideration from the government by doling out a huge amount as a bribe.
The petition said Veena Vijayan, Pinarayi Vijayan, Ramesh Chennithala, Kunhalikutty, Ebrahimkunju, A Govindan and Exalogic Solutions received bribes for obtaining undue advantage in the business carried out by CMRL.
The findings of ITIBS also reveal CMRL conducted several bogus transactions to massively inflate their expenses to accommodate the expenses for the bribes it paid, as was admitted by the company officials before I-T officials, said the petition.
In the I-T raids at the Chief Financial Officer’s residence, the sleuths received details of payments that he had noted down in a bunch of papers and kept in a suitcase, said the petition, adding that the payments were made on Kartha’s directives.