Pinarayi Vijayan rejects opposition’s call for his resignation over SFIO charges against his daughter

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said that he did not consider the Serious Fraud Investigation Office’s (SFIO) charges against his daughter Veena “seriously” and rejected calls by the opposition for his resignation.

On April 3, the SFIO named Veena, MD of the now-defunct IT firm Exalogic Solutions, as an accused in its prosecution complaint in the alleged illegal payment case.

When asked by reporters about recent developments in the case during a press briefing in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, the CM said, “The case is in court. Let it go on and we will see. I don’t see it very seriously. What’s the surprise in party (CPM) backing me? The party has clearly seen the aim behind the case (against my daughter).”

When reporters asked the CM about the different positions taken by the party with regard to the case against his daughter and the narcotics-related money laundering charges against the son of late CPI(M) leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Vijayan replied, “In Bineesh’s case, there was no mention of Kodiyeri Balakrishnan in the case files. In this case, it is referred to as my daughter. That’s the problem.”

The chief minister singled out the Malayalam newspaper Malayala Manorama, which was the first to report on the income tax interim settlement board’s remarks in a ruling with regard to the payment irregularity case in July 2023, for “desiring probes by central investigative agencies” as well as his resignation from the post.

“You (Manorama) want the probes to be launched (against me). We will see how long they go. We will fight the case in court. I don’t have to clarify in front of you (media). Media shouldn’t get worried too much. You are baying for my blood. You will not get it so easily,” Vijayan said while dismissing the calls for his resignation by opposition Congress and BJP.

He also rejected accusations that the state government gave special favours to Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) and its officials, who in turn were found to have made payments to the tune of ₹1.72 crore to the firm owned by his daughter.

The present case involving Veena pertains to alleged irregularities in monetary transactions between her firm and Cochin Minerals Rutile Limited (CMRL), a Kerala-based minerals manufacturer.

The summary of charges in the SFIO complaint, seen by HT, showed the federal agency found “fraudulent payments of ₹2.70 crore benefiting Veena and Exalogic” by CMRL.

Veena has been named as accused under Section 447 (punishment for fraud) of the Companies Act, 2013, while other accused named by the agency, include Exalogic Solutions, CMRL managing director Sasidharan Kartha, and Empower India Capital Investments Private Limited, a firm owned by Kartha and his wife.

The Union corporate affairs ministry had ordered the SFIO probe against Veena and CMRL in January last year. It was based on the finding of the Interim Settlement Board of the Income Tax department in 2023 that Veena and Exalogic received monthly payments from CMRL to the tune of ₹1.72 crore in a three-year period despite the former rendering no services in the said period. The board ruled that the payments could not be seen as “business expenses” as claimed by CMRL since no services were rendered by Exalogic.

Exalogic, the Bengaluru-based IT firm owned by Veena, signed an agreement with CMRL in 2017 for giving IT marketing, software and consulting services.

Following the SFIO’s prosecution complaint last week, both the Congress and the BJP demanded that CM Vijayan step down owning up “moral responsibility”.

“Veena T’s company received ₹2.7 crore as payment despite rendering no services. That’s only because she is the daughter of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The CM must own moral responsibility for corruption and resign. How can he justify remaining in the CM’s position while his daughter faces prosecution proceedings?” Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan said.