THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In the CMRL “monthly payment” case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted raids at the residences linked to former chief minister and current opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan. ED officials are carrying out searches at 10 locations, including his rented house in Thiruvananthapuram and residence in Kannur, as well as offices connected to the case.Searches are also underway at the residence of CMRL Managing Director Sasidharan Kartha and at the Kozhikode residence of former minister Mohammed Riyas. The action follows the High Court order permitting the ED to continue its investigation.The Kerala high court’s single bench the other day had allowed the Enforcement Directorate to proceed with the investigation in the CMRL monthly payment case. The court dismissed petitions filed by CMRL MD Sasidharan Kartha, Chief Finance Officer KS Suresh Kumar, and employees including Anju Rachel and Chandrasekharan, who had sought to halt the probe. The court also rejected the company’s request for a one-week extension to approach a higher court.The ED investigation was initiated following the SFIO findings that payments amounting to lakhs of rupees were allegedly made to a company owned by Veena Vijayan for services that were allegedly not rendered. After the ED issued summons and began searches, company officials approached the court alleging harassment in the name of questioning and arguing that there was no evidence warranting an ED investigation against the company.The transactions had earlier come under scrutiny after findings by the Interim Board for Settlement of the Income Tax Department questioned their legitimacy as business expenditure.Following those findings, the ministry of corporate affairs had ordered a Serious Fraud Investigation Office probe in Jan 2024. ED later issued summons to CMRL officials in April 2024, prompting the company to move court against the agency’s action.The agency had argued before HC that proceedings under PMLA can continue even without a prior FIR and pointed out that the SFIO had already filed a complaint in April 2025.
Leave a Reply