PTI
Kochi
In a huge blow to the CPI(M) and former Keralam chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the Kerala High Court on Friday directed the Vigilance to register an FIR under the anti-graft law against him and others in connection with the alleged CMRL bribery case, saying that information given by the ED shows the commission of offences under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act.
Justice A Badharudeen said the information given by the Enforcement Directorate, in its entirety, contains sufficient primary materials disclosing the commission of cognisable offences under the PC Act by Vijayan, his daughter Veena T and her husband P A Mohamed Riyas – a sitting CPI(M) MLA – who are named in the agency’s report in connection with the case.
“When the information, along with the support of statements recorded and documents obtained, shows the commission of offences under the PC Act by the persons referred to in the information, a further preliminary enquiry, into the facts of the case, is found to be totally unwarranted,” the court said. It also said that the ED report contains sufficient materials to register an FIR directly and to investigate the same.
“Thus, in the facts and circumstances of this case, no further enquiry is required in the instant case and the matters disclosed in the information under section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) make it obligatory for the State Police to register the FIR, ruling out the scope of any other enquiry,” the court said.
The order also came as a setback for the ruling Congress-led UDF government as the High Court termed as illegal its decision to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a preliminary enquiry into the allegations in the ED report and set it aside.
“The decision of the government to form a special team to conduct an enquiry as per Ext.P9 (ED report) without registering an FIR is found illegal on the facts of the case and therefore, the same is set aside,” the court said.
It also noted that apart from the notebooks and diaries, the information passed by the ED to the DGP, would show sufficient materials, including statements of many witnesses and the suspected persons.
The court specifically directed the Director of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB), Thiruvananthapuram, to “forthwith” register an FIR based on the information furnished by the ED under the PMLA for offences disclosed under the PC Act against the suspected persons.
It directed the VACB to register an FIR, “investigate the allegations through competent officers of the VACB” and file a final report, without any delay. The court also directed that the DGP or the head of the SIT having custody of the information given by the ED to hand it over to the VACB “forthwith” for registering an FIR.
“In this connection, the ED is directed to forward all necessary documents to the 3rd respondent (VACB), forthwith, and the 3rd respondent is free to call for any other documents required for the purpose of investigation after registering the FIR,” the court said.
The directions came while allowing a plea by advocate K M Shajahan, who had contended that the police should register an FIR rather than conduct a preliminary inquiry on the allegations contained in the ED report.
