Kochi: The Kerala High Court will hear on Saturday an appeal filed by former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and others in the Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) pay-off case, following the Supreme Court’s intervention in the legal proceedings.

The hearing comes a day before Vijayan was scheduled to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in connection with the case. However, he will not appear before the central agency, having conveyed his inability to attend, citing the Supreme Court’s interim orders and the ongoing session of the Kerala Legislative Assembly.

ED sources confirmed that Vijayan had informed them about his inability to appear for questioning in the Kochi office. It is also learnt that the ED is seeking legal advice on whether they should wait till the court’s decision on Vijayan's appeal before issuing a fresh summons.

Meanwhile, senior ED officials held a high-level review meeting on Thursday to assess the legal developments and decide on the agency’s next course of action.

The latest development follows a ruling by a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday, setting aside an earlier Kerala High Court Division Bench order that had rejected Vijayan’s plea for leave to appeal against a Single Bench directive.

The Single Bench had ordered the registration of FIRs against Vijayan and others. Challenging the directive, Vijayan had approached a Division Bench comprising Justices K Natarajan and Johnson John, seeking permission to appeal. The Division Bench had denied leave to appeal.

The Supreme Court subsequently overturned that decision and granted a 10-day stay on investigations initiated under the FIRs registered pursuant to the Single Bench order. The ruling clears the way for the appeal to be considered on its merits.

In compliance with the apex court’s directive, the High Court Registry will assign a fresh number to the appeal. The matter is expected to be placed before a newly constituted Division Bench on Saturday.

ED’s money-laundering probe remains in focus
While granting interim relief against the FIR-related investigations, the Supreme Court clarified that it was not expressing any opinion on the legal validity of the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) registered by the ED. It observed that the issue could be raised before the appropriate legal forum.

The clarification leaves the ED maintaining that its money-laundering investigation remains legally sustainable, notwithstanding the interim stay on the investigations arising from the FIRs.

Vijayan, his daughter T Veena and his son-in-law, former minister and MLA P A Mohammed Riyas, are prepared to approach the High Court with a writ petition if the ED initiates coercive proceedings or issues further summons before the Division Bench rules on the appeal.

The next course of action will depend on the High Court’s decision on Saturday. If the Division Bench admits the appeal and grants an interim stay on the Single Bench order pending final disposal, the investigations arising from that order would remain on hold.