Kerala High Court refuses an interim stay of the single Bench order for a Vigilance FIR in the CMRL pay-off case
13 October 2026
A Division Bench of Justices K. Natarajan and Johnson John of the Kerala High Court on Tuesday reserved its order on a plea for leave to appeal against a single Bench direction to register a first information report in the CMRL-Exalogic pay-off case.
The Bench declined to stay the operation of the single Bench judgment before deciding whether to grant leave, saying the court must follow procedure before considering a stay.
The appeals, numbered WA 2121/2026 and WA 2122/2026, were filed by former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter T. Veena and former Minister P.A. Mohammed Riyas, who said they were not heard by the single judge.
Advocate General K. Jaju Babu told the court that the State was conducting a preliminary inquiry on information passed by the Enforcement Directorate, and that the single judge set that inquiry aside.
The single Bench had directed the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to register an FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and the Bureau has since registered two cases.
In plain words
VACB Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau — Kerala's agency for investigating corruption by public servants.
Leave to appeal — Permission a court must give before a person who was not a party to a case can appeal the order in it.
Advocate General — The senior-most law officer of a State, who appears for the State government in its High Court.
Preliminary inquiry — A check made before registering an FIR to see whether a cognizable offence appears to exist.