Kerala High Court seeks report from State on attack against ED officers during raids on former CM

The Kerala High Court on Thursday sought a report from the State authorities on the action taken following the recent attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials who had carried out a search at former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's residence [Jojo Jose v. The Chief Secretary]..A Division Bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar VM passed the order while considering a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed by a practicing lawyer and social activist, Jojo Jose, seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the incident. Chief Justice Sen orally remarked that seeking a CBI probe at this time would be premature, as barely 10 days have passed since the incident occurred. “Less than 10 days have passed (since the incident). ED must have lodged a complaint with the police. How can we say police will not take action when only 10 days have passed? CBI can come if there is no possibility of fair investigation. Guidelines have been laid down for that by the Supreme Court in the West Bengal case. This is too early," Chief Justice Sen said. The Court said that it needed to first get an idea of the steps taken pursuant to the registration of a first information report (FIR) in the matter. It, therefore, directed the State Government Pleader to file a statement in that regard..The incident took place on May 27, after ED officials conducted a search at the residence of former CM and CPI (M) leader Pinarayi Vijayan, where he and his daughter were residing.The search was carried out in connection with the central agency's probe into the CMRL case, which involves allegations against Exalogic - an IT firm owned by Vijayan's daughter Veena Thaikkandiyil.After completing the search, the officials left the premises in three vehicles at around 2:40 PM.A crowd of nearly 300 persons is reported to have surrounded the vehicle, pelted stones and bricks at it. The mob is also alleged to have used sticks and rods to attack the ED officials.The counsel representing the PIL petitioner today submitted before the Bench that the incident was a "rarest of the rare" case for Kerala and that not taking action on it would give a wrong message to society.“For over 10 hours, whole of Kerala watched the entire incident which was telecast live throughout,” he said. Chief Justice Sen, however, questioned why a CBI probe was required. “Why is the CBI required? In a federal structure the police will have the right to investigate. So why CBI? CBI is only for exceptional cases. It is premature to suggest that at this stage that police will not investigate,” the Chief Justice remarked. The counsel argued that even the police action in the case is suspect and that fewer than 10 persons have been arrested even though over 300 persons are listed in the FIR.“Entire media is saying that there was a conspiracy behind the incident,” the counsel submitted. Opining that it was too early to involve the CBI, the Court directed the Government Pleader to file a report on the action taken on the incident for now..The matter will be heard again next week. .Five persons who were arrested in connection with the attack were recently denied bail by a A Judicial First Class Magistrate in Thiruvananthapuram. Read more about that here..[Live coverage of hearing]