The Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed an appeal by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL), officially permitting the Enforcement Directorate to continue its money laundering investigation and inquiries into the company.
The Division Bench upheld a previous single-judge order, ruling that the ED is legally authorised to conduct its probe.
The court dismissed CMRL’s petition to quash the proceedings and denied a request by CMRL’s lawyers for a two-week stay to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The high court also directed the ED not to take any action till the order in the appeal is received.
The ED was preparing for further action on the hope that the division bench order would be favourable. As part of that, a meeting was scheduled to be convened in Kochi on Friday with the participation of the ED Director.
The CMRL case is a major political and financial scandal involving allegations of illegal “monthly payments” (bribes) paid to politicians, trade unions and media outlets in Kerala.
The core controversy involves unverified transactions amounting to Rs 1.72 crore between CMRL and Exalogic Solutions, an IT firm formerly owned by Veena Vijayan, daughter of former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
