The Home Department has sought a legal opinion from the Advocate General on the course of action to be taken regarding the report submitted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking to file corruption charges against Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan, his son-in-law and MLA P A Mohammed Riyas and daughter T Veena over the alleged monthly pay-offs between Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) and Veena’s now-defunct company, Exalogic Solutions Pvt Ltd.

Minhaj Alam, Additional Chief Secretary, Home and Vigilance and DGP Ravada Chandrasekhar told Onmanorama that a decision on filing the FIR will be made only after getting the legal nod from the office of the Advocate General. The state police chief said that the file was forwarded to the Home department on Tuesday.

In the 25-page report submitted by the ED to the DGP, evidence on transactions, details of accounts and charges to be filed are learnt to have been incorporated. One page of this report containing a list of persons has so far been released. The charges proposed in the report come under the ambit of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Since the list of persons includes two legislators, prior sanction from the Speaker may be required under the relevant provisions of the PC Act to file an FIR.

The Act requires officials to obtain prior approval from the competent authority before conducting any inquiry into offences committed by public servants relating to recommendations or decisions made in the discharge of official duties. This provision is not applicable to others mentioned in the list.

According to the agency’s findings, Pinarayi Vijayan allegedly received ₹3.28 crore as a bribe from CMRL through his daughter Veena. ED's previous communications on filing FIRs were set aside by the then LDF government, citing lack of adequate evidence. The CPM has already called it part of a deal between the BJP and the CPM. The Congress-led government will want to plug all legal loopholes before proceeding with an FIR against former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and MLA Mohammed Riyas.

In an affidavit submitted in the High Court, the ED had stated that the diversion of funds by the CMRL led to the generation of proceeds of crime by Exalogic by way of commission of scheduled offences which were under inquiry by the ED under the provisions of the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act).

It was further submitted that immediately after registration of the ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report), as contemplated under the statute, information was forwarded to the Kerala Police under Section 66(2) of the PMLA for registration of the crime. ED cited that such a course was followed to conduct a prompt inquiry and to secure the proceeds of the crime if, based on the probe, the allegations were found to be genuine.