Kerala Chief Minister VD Satheesan stated on Wednesday that his government is deciding how to handle the Enforcement Directorate’s demand that police book former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and relatives in the CMRL-Exalogic payoff case. Speaking after the Cabinet meeting, Satheesan described the ED’s note to the state police chief as raising serious corruption allegations involving funds routed to Exalogic.
Satheesan also pointed out contradictory public remarks by Vijayan and son-in-law PA Mohamed Riyas regarding a seized Red Book diary, which he said undermines their defence. He stated that the government’s review is legal rather than political and promised a decision after careful scrutiny of whether the ED’s Prevention of Corruption Act theory can sustain an FIR.
Meanwhile, some CMRL officials have begun retracting statements given to the ED and alleging coercion. The government must now choose whether to approve a case against the present Opposition Leader while aiming to apply the law without settling political scores.