Enforcement Directorate officials on Saturday pasted the summons issued to Kerala former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan, asking him to appear for questioning on the 23rd in a money laundering case linked to the CMRL corruption allegations, outside his house in Thiruvananthapuram.
Officials said, “Enforcement Directorate officials went from Kochi to Pinarayi Vijayan’s house at Bakery Junction in Thiruvananthapuram to serve the summons. He was not at home at the time. Following that, the officials pasted the summons on the door of his house to ensure that he appears for questioning,” they said.
During the period when Pinarayi Vijayan served as Kerala’s Chief Minister, the Enforcement Directorate investigated allegations that Kochi Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) had illegally paid Rs. 2.78 crore to his daughter Veena’s company Exalogic Solutions (now defunct) under the name of information technology services, and that the money was diverted to Dubai through Veena’s husband, P. A. Mohammed Riyas.
In this case, searches were conducted at places including Pinarayi Vijayan’s rented house. Based on the “evidence” found then, the Enforcement Directorate recently sent a letter saying that the Kerala Police should register a case against 13 people, including Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter Veena, son-in-law Mohammed Riyaz, Exalogic Solutions, and CMRL owner S.M. Sachithananda Kartha.
However, the Kerala government, which refused to accept the Enforcement Directorate’s letter as a preliminary investigation report, formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the allegations.
Based on the order issued by the Kerala High Court while hearing the petition filed against this, the state police registered two cases against Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter Veena, her husband P.A. Mohammed Riyas, and others under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Based on the police first information report (FIR), the Enforcement Directorate has issued this summons after registering a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
On learning this, Marxist senior leader and former state minister V. Sivankutty, who came to Pinarayi Vijayan's house, told reporters, ‘Pinarayi Vijayan has not gone into hiding. He has gone to attend the party conference in Kannur.
If necessary, the summons could have been handed over to him directly in Kannur. But instead, the summons was deliberately pasted on his house. Treating someone who is a former Chief Minister of the state and currently the Leader of the Opposition in this manner is completely unjust. It is an anti-democratic act,’ he said.
In response to the question of whether Pinarayi Vijayan would appear for the inquiry, Sivankutty replied, ‘He will decide that himself.’