Kerala High Court appoints Amicus Curiae in plea for probe into corruption allegation against CM Pinarayi Vijayan

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday appointed an amicus curiae to assist the Court in a case challenging a vigilance court's refusal to order an investigation into allegations of bribery and misuse of power by high-ranking public officials in Kerala, including State Chief Minister (CM) Pinarayi Vijayan and his daughter Veena Thaikandiyilin [Gireesh Babu v State of Kerala & Anr.]..The allegations of corruption against these officials were made in connection with mining and other business interests of Cochin Mineral and Rutile Ltd. (CMRL).The Court had been informed at a previous hearing that the petitioner in the case had passed away.Today, Justice K Babu decided to appoint advocate Akhil Vijay as amicus curiae. .On August 26, the Special Judge (Vigilance) in Muvattupuzha had rejected the plea for a probe into the allegations on finding that there was no prima facie case made out against the accused officials.The petition before the vigilance court was filed by Babu in the wake of an Income Tax report that stated that an "illegal payment" of ₹1.72 crores was made by CMRL to Exalogic Solutions Private Limited, an IT firm owned by the daughter of the CM, Veena.He alleged that Veena received the money as consideration from CMRL to grant it an undue advantage.It was further alleged that high-ranking public officials including the CM, the Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala and other politicians such as Kunjali Kutty, VK Ibrahim Kunju and A Govindan also received bribes from CMRL.All of these persons were arraigned as accused in the petition.The complaint had also highlighted that the findings of the Interim Board for Settlement-II, New Delhi indicated that offenses under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 were committed by the accused persons.Referring to the alleged payment of ₹1.72 crore by CMRL to Exalogic Solution, the plea further recounted that Settlement Board-II termed this transaction as a bogus transaction as no service was provided by Veena's firm for CMRL.The vigilance court rejected the plea on the ground that the petitioner had only raised general allegations without sufficient material facts to back up his claims.Babu then approached the High Court with a revision petition challenging this vigilance court order..In his revision petition filed through advocate BA Aloor, the petitioner asserted that all the accused persons misused their official position and also caused loss to public exchequer.A strong prima facie case has been made out on this aspect contrary to the vigilance court's findings, it was submitted.“The accused in the complaint have misused their official capacity and powers in order to get illegal gratification and in exchange for monitory advantages, thereby the actions of all accused persons in the complaint comes within the purview under Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988,” the petition stated.The petitioner contended that the vigilance court rejected his complaint without considering the facts and circumstances of the case.Therefore, he urged the Kerala High Court to set aside the vigilance court order and to direct a probe by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau against the accused persons including Chief Minister Vijayan and his daughter.