In a setback to the Kerala government, the Kerala High Court on Wednesday declined to stay the ongoing SFIO investigation proceedings in the state run Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC).
Rejecting the KSIDC plea to stay the proceedings against the KSIDC by the SFIO, Justice Devan Ramachandran asked why the KSIDC was afraid of the investigation.
During the hearing of the KSIDC plea to stay the SFIO probe in KSIDC office, the court expressed curiosity about KSIDC’s apprehensions regarding the SFIO inspection. Responding to this, the counsel for KSIDC said it had nothing to hide and denied any involvement in wrongdoing.
“If you have nothing to hide then why should you be afraid of the probe,” the court asked the counsel of the KSIDC.
The court also declined to interfere with the notices directing KSIDC to produce documents sought by the probe agency.
The court asked the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to file its reply to the KSIDC. The case will be heard again on February 12.
The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), which is probing the affairs of Exalogic Solutions, the firm owned by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter Veena Vijayan, on Wednesday began its probe at the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) head office in Thiruvananthapuram. The KSIDC has approached the High Court seeking to stay this ongoing probe.