The Enforcement Directorate had alleged that Pinarayi Vijayan, while serving as Chief Minister, received a bribe of Rs. 3.28 crore from the Kochi CMRL private mineral sand company through his daughter Veena’s Exalogic company, and that the money was sent to Dubai as hawala funds through his son-in-law and former minister Muhammad Riyas. Although the investigation reports had already been sent to the Kerala DGP as early as last September, the Congress government in that state set up only an inquiry committee. Meanwhile, K.M. Shajahan filed a petition in the High Court seeking that a case be registered against Pinarayi Vijayan. Since the Enforcement Directorate had already investigated the matter, the High Court had ordered the Kerala Police to register a case directly. Based on this, the Kerala Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau registered a case on 11.10.2026 under the Prevention of Corruption Act, naming Pinarayi Vijayan first in the list of accused. His daughter Veena’s name appears as the second accused. In another case filed by Vigilance, Pinarayi Vijayan’s son-in-law Muhammad Riyas and his daughter Veena have also been accused. A two-judge bench dismissed the appeals filed by Pinarayi Vijayan and others against the High Court single judge’s order directing that an FIR be registered and an investigation conducted. Following this, the Enforcement Directorate has issued a summons to Pinarayi Vijayan to appear for questioning at its office in Kochi at 11 a.m. on 23.10.2026. It is said that Pinarayi Vijayan may be arrested after the questioning. Meanwhile, in this case, Pinarayi Vijayan has approached the Supreme Court seeking bail to avoid arrest.

We spoke about this with senior CPM leader and state president of the Agricultural Labourers’ Union, Anaavoor Nagappan: "The central BJP government is using the Enforcement Directorate as a political weapon to suppress political forces and opposition leaders who stand against it. In the cases pursued by the Enforcement Directorate, not even in half a percent of cases has anyone been convicted so far. Most cases do not stand up in court and are dismissed. Their strategy is to arrest opposition leaders without solid evidence, put them in jail, and then pressure them into joining the BJP. Suvendu Adhikari of the Trinamool Congress and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was in the Congress, are examples of this. Cases were filed without any evidence against Tamil Nadu’s Kanimozhi, and in Delhi against Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia."

When a private mineral sand company sought tax exemption for Rs. 182 crore given to various individuals, the Central Government’s interim resolution board rejected it, calling it corruption. Of that Rs. 182 crore, only Rs. 2.71 crore was the amount given to the company of Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter, Veena. This amount was received only through bank transactions on the basis of a written guarantee agreement for computer and software services. The applicable government taxes for it have also been duly paid. The remaining amount of more than Rs. 179 crore was received, without any documents, by Congress leader and current minister Ramesh Chennithala, former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Industries Minister P. K. Kunhalikutty, and Malayalam media companies. It is strange that the Enforcement Directorate, which did not investigate the Rs. 179 crore received in cash without any documents, is trying to shift the blame by turning only the Rs. 2.71 crore into a case.

“The Enforcement Directorate has entered by using the complaint filed with the Vigilance Department as a pretext, because a first information report is required for the Enforcement Directorate to intervene directly in Kerala. The BJP is carrying out these actions to smear corruption on someone who served as Chief Minister for 10 years and weaken the CPI(M) among the public. The CPI(M) will never bow down to the BJP. We will firmly face this intimidation by the Enforcement Directorate both legally, through the courts, and politically, by taking the facts among the people,” he said.
