CMRL-Exalogic payoff case: ED serves summons for October 23 to Pinarayi Vijayan

ED had issued a formal summons to Vijayan on Friday, asking him to appear at its Kochi office on October 23 in connection with an ongoing money laundering case, according to officials.

On Friday, the Supreme Court declined to take up an urgent plea by Vijayan seeking a stay on vigilance proceedings in the Rs 278-crore CMRL-Exalogic case, despite his apprehension of imminent arrest.

Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for Vijayan, told a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi that the 82-year-old leader faced the possibility of arrest.

He challenged the Kerala High Court's order directing registration of an FIR, arguing that it was passed by a single judge in proceedings resembling public interest litigation.

The Chief Justice said the court would explore the possibility of constituting a special bench during the upcoming Dussehra vacation, subject to the availability of judges. If that was not possible, the matter would be listed on October 26.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to resume regular functioning on October 26 after the Dussehra break.

The single-judge bench of the Keralam High Court had, on October 9, directed the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to initiate a criminal case following a report forwarded by the ED to the police.

The ED had sought the registration of a case based on material collected during its probe, including searches conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The allegations concern payments made by CMRL and an associate company to Exalogic Solutions. The agency alleged that CMRL improperly transferred Rs 2.78 crore to Exalogic by portraying the payments as fees for IT consultancy services. (ANI)