Delhi HC reserves verdict on CMRL plea challenging SFIO probe

Delhi High Court reserves judgment on CMRL plea challenging SFIO probe into Exalogic corruption allegations.

The Delhi High Court on Monday (December 23, 2024) reserved its judgment on a plea filed by the Cochin Minerals and Rulite Limited (CMRL) challenging the investigation into the affairs of Exalogic Solutions Private Limited, CMRL by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO).

Justice Chandra Dhari Singh reserved the judgment after hearing the arguments from the parties. The judge asked the parties to submit their written arguments within a week.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) had on January 31, 2024 ordered a probe into the affairs of Exalogic, a company owned by T. Veena, who is the daughter of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the CMRL, and the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) by the SFIO.

The MCA had previously told the Karnataka High Court that illegal payments made to the extent of ₹135 crore by the CMRL to various political functionaries of Kerala and certain other entities, including Exalogic, had necessitated the probe.

During the hearing before the Delhi High Court on Monday, Amit Tiwari, representing the Centre, said, “The money which is going from the CMRL to Exalogic is nothing but corrupt amount which is to be paid to politicians, bureaucrats, media houses”.

“The angle of corruption is involved. Public interest immediately germinates and therefore the orders passed under Section 212 [of the Companies Act]... are purely on account of public interest because the allegations are of corruption”.

“The complaint that we received was on December 31, 2020 against Exalogic. The RoC [Registrar of Companies] Bengaluru investigated and on December 29, 2023 the enquiry report was submitted,” Mr. Tiwari said.