Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) has enlisted the services of CS Vaidyanathan, the lawyer who represented Ram Lalla in the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi case in the Supreme Court, to argue the case concerning the company of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter, Veena, in the High Court.
Advocate Vaidyanathan appeared online in the High Court on January 24 and sent a letter to the KSIDC demanding Rs 25 lakh as a fee for a single sitting. In addition to this, office charges should also be paid to the advocate.
The indications are that Vaidyanathan, who was assigned at the suggestion of the Kerala government, will be present in the subsequent hearings as well.
KSIDC, which falls under the State Industries Department, has a 13.4 per cent or Rs 1.05 crore investment in CMRL (Cochin Minerals And Rutile Ltd), which has been embroiled in a controversy related to Veena Vijayan’s company.
A political storm erupted in the state after Malayala Manorama reported last year that CMRL had paid a total of Rs 1.72 crore to the chief minister's daughter between 2017 and 2020. The news report cited the ruling of an interim board for settlement and said that CMRL previously had an agreement with Veena's Kochi-based software firm Exalogic Solutions for consultancy and software support services. It also alleged that although no service was rendered by her firm, the amount was paid monthly "due to her relationship with a prominent person".
The Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs has initiated an inquiry under Section 210 of The Companies Act, as the explanation given by KSIDC regarding the financial transactions between Exalogic and CMRL was found to be unsatisfactory. KSIDC is the fourth respondent in the petition in the High Court seeking a probe into these transactions by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO).
KSIDC approached the senior SC lawyer in a situation where the investigation against Exalogic was getting tighter.
