Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, on Monday, September 11, finally broke his silence with regard to the controversy surrounding his daughter Veena and her company, Exalogic Solutions Pvt Ltd. Speaking at the Kerala Legislative Assembly, Pinarayi Vijayan said that observations by the Income Tax Interim Settlement Board that a Kochi-based mineral company made “illegal” payments to his daughter’s company “cannot be assigned any judicial value”.
He said that it was the responsibility of the I-T board to hear the side of the person who is criticised in the affidavit, as part of an investigation. “That didn't happen here. According to the fundamental principles of the law of evidence, observations made without hearing the other party cannot be assigned any judicial value,” said Pinarayi Vijayan.
The Kerala CM reminded that although the observations against his daughter were made by a board with powers of a civil court, it must be kept in mind that the order was written by the three Union government officers.
Earlier this month, the I-T Department, which had investigated the finances of the company named Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL), in its report said that the company had made a total payment of Rs 1.72 crore to Veena and her company between 2017 and 2020. It was also mentioned in the report that the money was paid without receiving any services in return from Veena and her company. The Income Tax Interim Settlement Board made the observations while disallowing claims made by CMRL to exempt payments amounting to Rs 1.72 crore made to Veena Vijayan and Exalogic,
“Exalogic has carried out software development with several organisations as part of its business. The CMRL is one of them,” said the Kerala CM, adding that Exalogic received payments from CMRL as part of a legal contract made with them. This was provided after deduction of income tax at source and payment of GST. It is understood that this has been disclosed in the income tax return of Exalogic, and it is not something that was discovered through an investigation,” he added.
The CMRL does not have any complaints that they have not received any services from Exalogic and has retracted their statements that they are unaware of any services offered by his daughter’s company. “Making allegations without hearing the company that provided the service and not providing them with a copy of the retracted affidavit, is also a form of witch hunt,” said Pinarayi Vijayan.
Hinting that the allegations against his daughter Veena is also part of the Union government’s witch hunt against Opposition parties, using Central agencies, Pinarayi Vijayan reminded the Opposition that the CPI(M) have also stood by the Congress whenever their leaders, including Rahul Gandhi were targeted by the Union Government and Central agencies. “We did not try to justify the court order that disqualified Rahul Gandhi by giving sanctity to the judicial order, but we tried to expose the political moves against him,” said Kerala CM.