Kerala: Vigilance court rejects petition seeking probe in 'monthly payment' case involving CM's daughter
The Vigilance Court in Thiruvananthapuram rejected petition filed by MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan seeking direct investigation into the 'monthly payment' case involving Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter Veena Vijayan on Monday (May 6).
FollowThiruvananthapuram: The Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Court on Monday (May 6) rejected the petition filed by Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnathan MLA seeking an investigation into the 'monthly payment' controversy involving Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter Veena Vijayan. Mathew Kuzhalnadan alleged that the state government had given improper assistance to the CMRL company in the case where it was alleged that the Chief Minister's daughter Veena Vijayan was given monthly payment. However, the vigilance court rejected this demand finding that there was no evidence.
The petitioner alleges that the Chief Minister's daughter received a monthly stipend as a reward for providing improper assistance to a private firm, CMRL, in mineral sand mining. The court had sought evidence from Mathyukuzhal Nadan regarding the alleged wrongful assistance to the private company. Kuzhalnadan's lawyer presented some documents, however, the Vigilance Court argued that it did not find any evidence of wrongful assistance provided by the government in these documents.
Last month, the Kerala High Court ordered the Serious Fraud Investigation Office to carry out and continue its probe against Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) in connection with the monthly payment controversy.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs informed that SFIO is carrying out a probe into the activities of Exalogic, CMRL, and KSIDC. The centre also pointed out that more than Rs 1 crore was received in the name of Exalogic for the services provided. The central government raised concerns regarding the lack of investigation when the KSIDC director was placed in CMRL and financial transactions were being conducted. The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) informed the court that KSIDC cannot distance itself from the investigation.
A controversy erupted in Kerala last year, that CMRL (Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited) had paid a total of Rs 1.72 crore to the chief minister's daughter's firm Exalogic Solutions between 2017 and 2020 without rendering any service.
