THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after the Registrar of Companies (ROC) submitted a report to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) detailing the financial fraud committed by Exalogic, an IT firm owned by Veena Vijayan, daughter of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL), Minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan slammed the ruling CPI(M) -led government and stated that the ‘deal’ mentioned in the ROC report is nothing but a bribe and the accused persons cannot escape from the clutches of law.
CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan had defended Veena Vijayan and Exalogic hours after the new revelation surfaced stating that the deal was transparent and the BJP is using the central agencies to take political revenge against the CPI(M) eyeing at the Loksabha elections.
The union minister while speaking to the media stated that PM Modi is not a person whose mind can be diluted following a handshake as alleged by certain political leaders.
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“VD Satheeshan need not have the impression that Prime Minister Modi is an idol that can be diluted just by a handshake with Pinarayi Vijayan. Prime minister engages in a handshake with every Chief minister he meets while travelling to the respective states. It is the Congress and the CPI(M) that have a secret understanding in the state,” said union minister V Muraleedharan while speaking to the media at the guest house in Thiruvananthapuram.
The statement is viewed as a rebuttal to opposition leader VD Satheeshan who ‘reminded’ him while addressing the media on how Pinarayi Vijayan was trying to build a bonhomie with PM Modi and hence try to allegedly dilute the corruption case while he received the Prime Minister at the airport in Kochi.
The union minister said, “Following the ROC report, it has become crystal clear that the money dealt by Veena Vijayan was nothing but bribe. Creating a fake company and then collecting a monthly salary is nothing but corruption. The Chief Minister has stated in the assembly that the deal was an agreement between two companies. Will the opposition be ready to file a notice against the Chief minister now for misleading the assembly?
“Veena Vijayan’s company being operated in Karnataka, will the Congress government in the state seek for a CBI investigation? Is it because few beneficiaries of the money provided by CMRL are Congress leaders that the Congress is not taking an initiative on this matter.”
The Registrar of Companies report to the MCA has found that Exalogic has flouted various rules in dealing with the CMRL. The report says that Veena Vijayan and her company failed to provide the details including those linked to the contract signed with the CMRL.
CMRL is a government-owned company which is mandated to report all its transactions to the board of directors. The ROC report states that there has been a gross violation of section 188 of Companies Act for non-reporting related party transactions with CMRL.
It was on the basis of this report that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs issued an order to investigate complaints against Veena’s firm.
Last year, a controversy erupted in the state after it was reported that CMRL had paid Rs 1.72 crore to the CM’s daughter between 2017 and 2020. A huge fraud was alleged between Veena’s company Exalogic Solutions and Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL), a black soil mining company.
