Kerala's Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Monday registered two first information reports (FIRs) against former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter Veena Vijayan and son-in-law PA Mohammed Riyas in connection with alleged financial transactions between Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) and Veena's now-defunct company, Exalogic Solutions.
The cases have been registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act following findings shared by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has been investigating alleged payments made by CMRL to Exalogic during Vijayan's tenure as chief minister. The allegations centre on whether the payments were made despite the company not providing the services for which it was contracted and whether the transactions were linked to alleged corruption.
Vijayan has been named the first accused in one FIR, while Riyas is the first accused in the other. Veena has been named an accused in both cases. One case concerns alleged payments made to Vijayan through his daughter, while the other relates to allegations that money was transferred abroad through hawala channels.
The registrations follow a Kerala High Court order on October 9 directing the vigilance authorities to register an FIR and investigate the allegations. The court had ruled that the material supplied by the ED contained sufficient information indicating cognisable offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Kerala High Court had rejected preliminary inquiry
The High Court issued its direction on a petition filed by activist-lawyer KM Shajahan, who sought a criminal investigation into Vijayan and others based on the ED's findings.
The state government had earlier decided to conduct a preliminary inquiry through a Special Investigation Team (SIT) instead of immediately registering an FIR. The court set aside that decision, holding that the information and supporting material supplied by the ED warranted the registration of a case.
The single-judge bench observed that when the information and supporting statements disclose the commission of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, a further preliminary inquiry into the facts is unwarranted.
The court's order paved the way for the VACB to register the two cases and begin its investigation into the alleged financial transactions.
In a further development on Monday, Vijayan, Veena and Riyas approached the High Court's Division Bench, seeking permission to challenge the single-judge order. Their petitions argued that the order directing the registration of FIRs had been passed without giving them an opportunity to be heard.
The legal challenge comes as the vigilance investigation begins, leaving the allegations subject to further scrutiny.
How the CMRL-Exalogic case emerged
The controversy came to prominence in June 2023, when the Income Tax Department's Interim Settlement Board found that Veena and Exalogic Solutions, a Bengaluru-based software company, had received payments from CMRL despite allegedly not rendering the corresponding services.
The transactions related to the period between 2017 and 2019. CMRL, a minerals manufacturer, had entered into an agreement with Exalogic in 2017 for software and marketing services in return for compensation.
The Income Tax Department's findings indicated that payments totalling around ₹1.72 crore had been made to Veena and her company. The alleged absence of corresponding services became a central issue in the subsequent investigations.
In January 2019, the Income Tax Department conducted searches at CMRL's premises and the residences of its managing director, Sasidharan Kartha, and its then chief financial officer, KS Suresh Kumar.
The department subsequently flagged alleged tax evasion involving inflated expenses. Investigators also found diary entries that reportedly referred to payments made to prominent political leaders, media organisations, trade union leaders and police officers.
The findings triggered allegations that the payments to Exalogic were not genuine business transactions but were made to secure favours for CMRL in the mining sector.
The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that the payments, made despite the purported absence of services, amounted to bribes to Vijayan. Vijayan and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), rejected the allegations.
ED and corporate affairs ministry step up investigations
The Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs ordered an inquiry into the allegations under the Companies Act in January 2024. The following month, the Karnataka High Court dismissed Veena's petition seeking to quash the corporate affairs investigation.
In March 2024, the ED registered a case against Veena and CMRL, taking cognisance of the complaint and examining whether the transactions involved violations of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The agency subsequently investigated the financial dealings between CMRL and Exalogic, including allegations of payments made without corresponding services and possible links to corruption.
In April 2025, a prosecution complaint was filed before a special court in Kochi against Veena and CMRL officials over alleged fraudulent payments of ₹2.70 crore benefiting Veena and Exalogic.
The ED also brought allegations involving CMRL officials and payments amounting to ₹182 crore, purportedly made under the guise of sluice handling charges and transportation costs.
Investigators reportedly found handwritten notes containing names, amounts handled and details of money allegedly transferred to Dubai. These findings formed part of the broader investigation into suspected financial irregularities and the possible movement of funds through unofficial channels.
The latest FIRs registered by the VACB represent a separate step towards investigating alleged offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, based on the information supplied by the ED.
Political fallout and allegations of corruption
The CMRL-Exalogic case has remained a contentious political issue in Kerala, with the Congress and the BJP questioning the nature of the payments made to Veena's company and alleging that the transactions were connected to Vijayan's position as chief minister.
The CPI(M) and Vijayan have dismissed the allegations, disputing the accusations and portraying the scrutiny as politically motivated.
The registration of the two FIRs brings the allegations involving Vijayan, Veena and Riyas into a formal vigilance investigation. The first case will examine the alleged payments linked to the CMRL-Exalogic transactions, while the second will focus on the alleged transfer of money abroad through hawala channels.
With the three accused also challenging the High Court's order, the case is now proceeding on both investigative and judicial fronts. The allegations have yet to be established in court, and the ongoing proceedings will determine the course of the investigation and any further legal action.