The police take KSU and Youth Congress activists into custody for staging a black flag protest against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at Ernakulam Guest House on Friday following reports that his daughter has been named by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) in an “illegal payment” scandal.
| Photo Credit: R.K. Nithin
A special court here has found “sufficient material to take cognizance of offence” against Veena Thaikandiyil, daughter of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and 12 other accused in the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited pay-off case booked by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO).
V.P.M. Suresh Babu, Additional District and Sessions Judge 7, Ernakulam, ordered summons to be issued against Ms. Veena and others on Friday.
The accused will have to personally appear before the court on a scheduled date and apply for bail. Granting of bail will be the discretion of the court. The date of appearance of the accused will be fixed by the court after the case is assigned a number, according to legal sources.
The case involving the daughter of the Chief Minister has set off a political turmoil in the State, even as Mr. Vijayan attempted to portray it as a move targeting him. While Opposition parties stepped up their agitation against the CPI(M)-led LDF government by terming it as a case of corruption, the CPI(M) tried to play it down as an issue between two private firms.
The court decided to take cognizance of the offence after “perusing the complaint, investigation report, statement of witnesses and documents produced by the SFIO.”
The judge treated the investigation report filed by the SFIO as a police report and ordered the proceedings on the day.
The judge, who reviewed the report, materials, and documents produced by the investigation agency, arrived at the conclusion that there were sufficient materials to take cognizance of offence and issue process against all the accused for violation of Sections 447 and 448 of the Companies Act.
The Sections cover a host of fraudulent acts, including misrepresentation, concealment, and abuse of position to deceive or gain undue advantage.
While Ms. Veena has been arraigned as the 11th accused in the case, her now-defunct IT firm, Exalogic Solutions Private Limited, Karnataka, is the 12th accused. Sasidharan Kartha, Managing Director of the CMRL, is the first accused and his son, Saran S. Kartha, the fourth accused in the case.
Chartered Accountants and CMRL officials P. Suresh Kumar, K.S. Suresh Kumar, K.A. Saghesh Kumar, and A. K. Muraleekrishnan have also been arraigned as the accused in the court order. Besides the CMRL and Exalogic, three firms namely Nipuna International Private Limited, South Kalamassery, Sasja India Private Limited, Aluva, and Empower India Capital Investments Private Limited, Ernakulam, have also been enlisted as accused.
The SFIO had alleged that Ms. Veena and her firm had received “fraudulent payments” to the tune of ₹72.7 crore from the CMRL. The allegation against the CMRL was that the company showed fraudulent expenses of ₹182 crore under the guise of sludge handling charges and transportation costs.
Mr. Sasidharan and the CMRL have been accused of paying a fraudulent commission of ₹13 crore benefiting Anil Ananda Panicker, 10th accused in the case.
Published – April 11, 2025 10:01 pm IST
