Pinarayi Vijayan defends daughter's firm, says 'everything was proper'

Pinarayi Vijayan defends the CMRL-Exalogic deal, calling it a proper contract. He says his daughter's company received payments legitimately, accounted for them, and paid taxes, asking "what exactly is the issue?" amid an ongoing ED probe.

'Everything Was Done Properly': Pinarayi Vijayan on CMRL-Exalogic Case

Addressing the controversial CMRL-Exalogic payoff case, former Keralam Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday said "everything was done properly" between the two companies, asking "what exactly is the issue?"

The CMRL-Exalogic case relates to allegations surrounding transactions between CMRL and Exalogic Solutions, a company linked to Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter Veena. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had earlier written to the Kerala Director General of Police (DGP) seeking registration of an FIR against Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter T Veena, and son-in-law PA Mohamed Riyas, MLA, in connection with the case.

Addressing the allegations, Vijayan said, "What exactly is the issue in the matter related to Exalogic? Exalogic entered into a contract with CMRL, which is a separate company, to provide certain services. It was a proper and legitimate agreement. Normally, when such services are provided, the company receives payment for them, and there is nothing unusual about accepting that payment."

He added, "If the money received had not been accounted for, that would be an offence because every company is required to properly account for its transactions. But is there any such offence here? The money is accounted for. There are taxes that have to be paid on such income as per law and amounts that have to be remitted to the government. Was there any lapse in that regard? Everything was done properly."

ED Investigation Intensifies

Meanwhile, the State Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala has maintained that the case is not a "political witch hunt" against Vijayan.

Last month, the ED conducted searches at eight premises at various locations in Kozhikode in Keralam in its ongoing CMRL financial transaction case. Officials, privy to the development, said the search operations were a follow-up to previous raids carried out by the ED on May 27 this year in the case.

They said the federal agency found certain new evidence of an alleged money trail from Veena during the searches carried out in May.

On May 27, ED's Kochi zone conducted searches at 10 premises in the case against CMRL directors SN Sasidharan Kartha, Saran S Kartha, Veena, and her company Exalogic Solutions Private Limited. The search operation then covered premises in Kottayam, Ernakulam, Kannur, Trivandrum, and Bengaluru.

CMRL is a publicly listed company in which 48.75 per cent of the shares are held by the general public, and also 13.41 per cent of the shares are held by the Kerala State Public Sector Unit, Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (as on March 31, 2023).

During the search conducted in May, several incriminating records and accounts, digital evidence, investments, and bank fixed deposits were allegedly found. The ED has frozen about Rs 18.36 crore in around 242 accounts identified during the search operations, and the evidence recovered is being analysed. (ANI)

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