Illegal payments to the extent of ₹135 crore to various political functionaries of Kerala State and certain other entities, including Exalogic Solutions Pvt. Ltd., a company owned by Veena T., daughter of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) necessitated a probe by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) in public interest, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) told the High Court of Karnataka on Monday.
A statement in this regard was submitted before the court during the hearing on a petition filed by Exalogic, which has questioned the legality of the initiation of a probe by the SFIO under Section 212 of the Companies Act even before the conclusion of an ongoing probe into the affairs of the company under Section 210 of the Act through the Inspectors of the Registrar of Companies (RoC).
‘An offence of such scale and grave nature that directly affects public interest would definitely merit an investigation by the SFIO, which is a multidisciplinary agency,” it has been contended in the statement.
