Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 15 Keralam Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Thursday said the state government did not act in undue haste when it received ED’s letter to register an FIR against former CM Pinarayi Vijayan and his kin under the anti-graft law in the alleged CMRL bribery case.
Addressing a press conference here, Satheesan said that he discussed the issue with state Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, other senior cabinet ministers and UDF leaders and it was collectively decided to seek a legal opinion on how to proceed with the matter.
“We did not act in undue haste as this government will not abuse the power it has to settle scores or political vendettas. We took legal advice and acted in accordance with that to initiate a preliminary enquiry into the allegations by the Enforcement Directorate (ED),” the CM said.
He said that when the Kerala High Court held that there was no need for a preliminary enquiry and directed to register an FIR, the government implemented the order.
“So we acted in accordance with the law,” he emphasised.
He was responding to reporters’ queries regarding the High Court order, in the morning, dismissing pleas of Vijayan, his daughter Veena T and her husband P A Mohamed Riyas seeking to challenge a single judge order of October 9 directing the VACB to register an FIR against them based on the ED report in the alleged CMRL-bribery case.
Earlier in the day, the High Court verdict was welcomed by BJP leader Shone George and Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan.
The CPI(M), on the other hand, claimed that the case against Vijayan, his daughter Veena T and her husband P A Mohamed Riyas was “false and politically motivated” and “a planned move” by the BJP and UDF to attack them and the Left party.
Meanwhile, state Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said that the High Court order was not a setback to the government as it acted in accordance with the law and not with any political vendetta.
George told reporters that if the former CM “has a shred of shame” he should resign from the post of opposition leader in the state assembly.
The BJP leader said that the state government cannot help Vijayan any more than it already has from the time it received a letter from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to register an FIR under the anti-graft law against the Marxist veteran and his family members.
Welcoming the HC verdict, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, in an X post, said, “In India, you can run, but you cannot hide if you are a corrupt politician. Today’s High Court judgment is decisive and clear. @pinarayivijayan must resign immediately.”
He also accused the Congress of “opportunistic politics”, saying that it did not hesitate to register FIRs against BJP’s Thiruvananthapuram Corporation councillors and mayor, but showed “reluctance” to take action against Vijayan.
CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan told reporters that the matter would be effectively dealt with politically and legally after examining the judgement.
He also said that the state government ought to have filed an appeal against the single judge order instead of implementing it right away.
He claimed that the High Court did not allow the Marxist veteran and his kin to file an appeal as an FIR had already been registered by the Vigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau (VACB).
The CPI(M) state secretary termed the vigilance case against Vijayan and others as a planned move of the ED and the UDF government to attack the CPI(M) veteran and Riyas and through them the left party.
CPI(M) leader and former state minister M B Rajesh also spoke along similar lines, accusing the UDF government of not filing an appeal and registering an FIR in haste.
Congress MLA Kuzhalnadan, at a press conference here, welcomed the verdict and said that when his plea for action againt Vijayan in the CMRL matter was dismissed by the High Court, he was ridiculed inside and outside the assembly.
The Congress MLA said that the party and himself have ample opportunity now to ridicule the former CM, but considering his age and years of political life, “we will not stoop that level”.
He further said that since a single judge and a division bench have said that there was no need for a preliminary enquiry after information was given by the ED, the government should correct its stand if required.
A bench of Justices K Natarajan and Johnson John rejected the applications of Vijayan, Veena and Riyas to file an appeal against the single judge’s October 9 order, while holding that “an accused in a corruption case has no legal right to be heard before registering the FIR.”
It said that since the applications are dismissed, their appeals are consequently also dismissed.
It also said that the October 9 order “has not affected the applicants’ rights to pursue the constitutional statutory remedy against the registration of the FIR.”
The bench further said that when sufficient material disclosing commission of cognizable offences is furnished along with the information under section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), there was no necessity for conducting a preliminary inquiry.
(PTI News)
