Kerala High Court refuses corruption probe against Chief Minister, daughter

The Kerala High Court has dismissed two revision petitions challenging earlier Vigilance Court orders that refused to initiate investigations into corruption allegations against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter Veena Vijayan, and other senior government officials.
Justice K. Babu delivered the verdict, stating, "Criminal revision petitions stand dismissed." The detailed order is awaited.
The first petition was filed by the late Gireesh Babu in 2023, contesting the Muvattupuzha Vigilance Court's dismissal of his plea. Babu had sought an investigation into alleged bribery involving high-ranking public officials connected to Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd .
Babu's complaint accused Veena Vijayan and her company, Exalogic Solutions Pvt. Ltd., of receiving illegal payments purportedly facilitated by her father, the Chief Minister. Other public figures named in the complaint included Congress MLA Ramesh Chennithala, MLA Kunhalikutty, former Public Works Minister V.K. Ibrahim Kunju, and A. Govindan, alleging they received illegal gratification. CMRL's top executives were also implicated for allegedly disbursing bribes.
The Vigilance Court had previously dismissed Babu's complaint, citing a lack of specific allegations and failure to establish a prima facie case.
Following Babu's demise, Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan filed a similar petition challenging the Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Court's dismissal of his plea. Kuzhalnadan sought an inquiry into alleged payments made by CMRL to Exalogic Solutions, suggesting these were intended to secure favors from the Chief Minister.
Kuzhalnadan argued that CMRL had paid ₹1.72 crore to Exalogic Solutions and Veena Vijayan without receiving any services in return. He alleged these payments were made to facilitate CMRL's procurement of mineral sand from the Thottappally Spillway mouth, mined by Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd., and that the funds were funneled to the Chief Minister through his daughter and her company.
Despite presenting 27 documents to support his claims, the Vigilance Court dismissed Kuzhalnadan's plea, deeming it politically motivated. The court noted that while the petitioner highlighted payments to certain individuals, he did not express concern over similar payments to others, reinforcing the perception of political bias. Open URL