Kerala HC order against former CM Pinarayi Vijayan and others raises a larger question of natural justice, say legal experts

Kerala Assembly LoP Pinarayi Vijayan. File | Photo Credit: PTI

The Kerala High Court order asking the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to register an FIR against former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his daughter T. Veena, and his son-in-law and MLA P.A. Mohamed Riyas, has raised larger questions of natural justice and court orders overlooking the statutory provisions of law, according to legal experts.

Though the single judge elaborately heard the petitioner K.M. Shajahan and the Enforcement Directorate, which forwarded a letter to the State government seeking to register an FIR against the trio, the three were not offered an opportunity to be heard. The denial of the opportunity to be heard could be construed as the denial of natural justice. It will legally enable Mr. Vijayan and the two others to challenge the single judge’s order before the High Court or Supreme Court, judicial sources pointed out.

The order of the single judge, according to some legal experts, bypassed Section 17 (A) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, which mandated prior approval from the competent authority for police officers to conduct inquiry into offences committed by public servants in the discharge of their official functions.