Additional Solicitor General will appear in monthly payment case; Crucial day for ED and Veena

KOCHI: Monday will be a crucial day for former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter Veena. The appeal filed by the CMRL to stop the investigation in the monthly payment case will be considered today.

If the High Court Division Bench does not intervene immediately, the Enforcement Directorate will tighten the proceedings against Veena.

Additional Solicitor General Sundareswaran will appear online from Chennai, and ED prosecutor Suhaib Hussain from Delhi. Prosecutor in Kochi, Jayashankar, will appear in person.

The Delhi headquarters has also issued legal directions to prevent any orders in favour of CMRL, including an interim stay.

The ED is trying to maintain the order of the High Court single bench that the investigation can continue. In addition to the evidence collected by the ED, the information from the investigation of the Serious Fraud Office and the Income Tax Department will be shared with the court.

Information from the raid conducted the previous day will be shared if necessary. The court will also be informed that the investigation is not limited to the transaction with Veena Vijayan's Exalogic, but also the mysterious transactions of Rs 182 crore made by CMRL. It will be argued that the subject of the investigation is the mysterious transactions made by the company in which the state government has a stake.

The ED argues that they have the authority to investigate money laundering now being investigated by two other agencies. It must be established that the petitioners' argument that the ED investigation is unwarranted cannot stand. The ED headquarters has instructed advocates to present to the court the extensive powers they have under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and create a conducive atmosphere to continue the investigation.