In a setback to Veena Vijayan, the daughter of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the Karnataka High Court on Friday dismissed the petition filed by Exalogic Solutions Private Limited of which she is a director.
The petition challenged the investigation launched by the Serious Fraud Investigation Officer (SFIO) against the company. The Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs had asked the SFIO to probe the company’s affairs.
Investigation revealed that Rs 135 crores was given by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) to various political functionaries and Rs 1.72 crores was paid by CMRL to Exalogic under the guise of a software agreement but no software was actually provided.
The ASG said, “When Rs 135 crore is involved, there are a lot of transactions which look shady. Officers said we cannot get information from the income tax department and it may be placed before SFIO. Union Govt need not hear petitioner before ordering an investigation.”
The petitioner argued that another Centre launched a second investigation against the company while a first probe was already underway. The petitioner argued that there cannot be two parallel investigations at the same time against the company.
Meanwhile, in related news, the KSIDC has approached the Kerala High Court against the SFIO probe in connection with the CMRL transactions.
In January, the Kerala HC had asked the Centre is an SFIO investigation against Exalogic was necessary.
CMRL reportedly made a payment of Rs 1.72 crore to Exalogic Solutions over three years since 2017. An order passed by the Income Tax Interim Board of Settlement suggested that the amount was paid without availing any services.
Allegations of kickbacks surfaced that the money was routed to Veena Vijayan’s company under the guise of consideration for IT services.