ED to fiercely counter CMRL appeal in High Court; all evidence to be submitted in sealed cover

KOCHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is gearing up for a major legal showdown in the Kerala High Court, fiercely opposing the appeal filed by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) that seeks to halt the ongoing monthly pay-off investigation. To back its stance, the central agency plans to submit all gathered evidence to a division bench in a sealed cover on Monday, when the court is scheduled to hear the matter. The Additional Solicitor General will represent the ED, while CMRL is reportedly mobilising a team of senior Supreme Court advocates to argue its case.

The appeal was jointly moved by high-ranking corporate officials, including Managing Director S.N. Sasidharan Kartha, Chief Financial Officer K. Suresh Kumar, Senior Manager N.C. Chandrasekharan, and Senior Officer Anju Rachel Kurian. In its petition, the mining company argues that a parallel probe by the ED is legally untenable and unwarranted, given that the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) is already conducting an exhaustive inquiry into the same matter.

This latest legal manoeuvre follows a significant setback for CMRL, where a single-judge bench led by Justice T.R. Ravi dismissed the company’s initial plea to quash the ED's investigation. Armed with the single bench's clearance to proceed, the ED intensified its crackdown on Wednesday, executing coordinated raids across 12 locations. These searches targeted the residences and corporate offices of CMRL executives, alongside premises linked to the family of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan—a development that has significantly raised the political stakes surrounding the case.