The Kerala High Court on Thursday refused to entertain appeals filed by CPI(M) leader and former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter Veena Thaikkandiyil, her husband Mohammed Riyas and others challenging a single-judge order directing the registration of an FIR against them in the CMRL-Exalogic case [Pinarayi Vijayan v Adv KM Shajahan & ors].
A Division Bench of Justice K Natarajan and Justice Johnson John passed the verdict.
Notably, the appellants (Vijayan, Veena, Riyas and others) were not parties to the writ petition in which the single-judge's October 9 order was passed.
Therefore, a question arose as to whether they can be given permission to challenge a judgment in a case to which they were not parties.
All the appellants filed applications seeking the Court's permission to make detailed arguments in their main appeals.
The Court today dismissed these applications seeking leave to appeal.
"We find that the impugned judgment hasn't affected the right of the applicants to pursue the constitution of the statutory remedy against the registration of FIR and in such a situation all the applications seeking leave to file appeal are dismissed," the Court held.
The matter is tied to alleged irregularities in the financial transactions between Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) and Exalogic Solutions Private Limited, a company owned by Veena Thaikkandiyil.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) claimed that it had unearthed certain incriminating material, which it shared with the State Police.
The State decided to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to hold a preliminary inquiry instead of immediately registering an FIR.
A lawyer named KM Shajahan, who had also served as an additional private secretary to former CM and CPI (M) leader, late VS Achuthanandan when he was the Leader of Opposition, approached the High Court challenging this move. Shajahan sought registration of an FIR.
On October 9, single-judge Justice A Badharudeen allowed the petition and ordered the State's Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to register an FIR against Vijayan, Veena, Riyas and others suspected of corruption, including Nikhil P, Hassan Varish, Shyjal Muhammad and Nandulal M.
Vijayan, Veena and Riyas and the others challenged this ruling in their appeals before the High Court's Division Bench.
During the hearing of the applications seeking leave to appeal, former Kerala Advocate General Senior Advocate K Gopalakrishna Kurup, appearing for Veena, questioned how Shajahan, who is a third party unconnected to the case, could have moved the Court for the registration of an FIR in the first place.
He argued that the single judge’s direction for an FIR had impacted the appellants’ legal remedies but that it was passed without hearing them, violating the priniciples of natural justice.
Senior Advocate Kurup further maintained that the State was well within its rights to first conduct a preliminary inquiry, before deciding if an FIR was necessary based on the infomation handed over by the ED.
Former Director General of Prosecution and Senior Advocate TA Shaji appearing for Pinarayi Vijayan asserted that the appellants must be heard before the FIR proceeds.
Representing Riyas and Nikhil, Senior Advocate S Sreekumar questioned the hurried manner in which Shajahan had approached the Court.
Both Babu and Kurup further argued that Shajahan's plea ought to have been treated as a public interest litigation (PIL) and heard by a Division Bench, not a single-judge Bench. They also pointed out that the single-judge himself had treated Shajahan as a whistleblower.
These contentions were supported by Senior Advocate Raman Pillai who appeared for Hassan Varish, Shyjal Muhammad and Nandulal M.
Advocate General Jaju Babu, appearing for the State government also defended the decision to hold a preliminary inquiry in the case but submitted that the government had complied with the single judge's direction and handed over material to the VACB to register an FIR.
The appeals filed by Pinarayi Vijayan and Veena were moved through advocates Gilbert George Correya, KK Ravindranath, P Narayanan, Manu V, Thanushree Damodaran, Abhijith MA and Clarina Christopher P.
Riyas, Nikhil, Varish, Shyjal, and Nandulal's appeals were filed through advocates Ameen Hassan K, Lisna Sherin TT, Ummul Fadla T, Abdul Fathah Rajesh A and Muneer Ahmed.
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