Kochi: A city court on Monday rejected a plea to probe into the pay off allegedly received by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter Veena T from a mining company CMRL for getting favours from the Left Government, media reports said.
Rejecting the petition of Congress leader Mathew Kuzhalnadan, MLA, accusing the Left government headed by Veena’s father facilitating the CMRL to carry out mining of the rare mineral from Alappuzha coast, the
Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Court said there was no evidence to prove the petitioner’s charges.
Kuzhalnadan alleged that the Left government helped the CMRL to carry out smooth operations in return for monetary benefits allegedly received by Veena Vijayan on a monthly basis.
In 2019, the Income Tax Department raided
the Kochi-based publicly listed Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) and
unearthed materials to prove that bribes were paid to politicians and others.
In June 2023, the Income Tax Interim Settlement Board, Delhi, ruled that the CMRL paid illegal payments to Veena by giving fictitious contracts to her IT company Exalogica.
In February 2024, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office conducted a probe against the CMRL over the alleged deal.
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) is probing into alleged money laundering
against CMRL and Veena’s firm.
Founded in 1989 by S N Sasidharan Kartha, CMRL had faced protest against alleged illegal mining carried out under the aegis of CMRL in 2018 – 19.
