New Delhi, Oct. 22 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed for a week the investigation into allegations that state-run Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) paid over Rs.2.78 crore to Exalogic Solutions Pvt Ltd, owned by former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter Veena T, without receiving any services in return. The order covers Vijayan, his daughter, son-in-law and others, allowing them to approach the Kerala High Court for interim relief. A bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, sitting during the weeklong Dussehra break, clarified that the stay applied only to further investigation and not to the registration of the first information report (FIR). "We direct the investigation in the FIR shall remain for a week. Our order shall not be taken as an opinion expressed on the interim relief that the division bench [of the high court] shall fashion based on facts and the law," the bench said. The court stayed a Kerala High Court division bench order of October 15 dismissing Vijayan's appeal against a single judge's October 9 direction to register a criminal case. The state registered the FIR on October 12 and initiated an investigation. Vijayan, represented by senior advocates Siddharth Luthra and N Hariharan, argued that the dismissal of his appeal left him without a remedy. They submitted that the single judge had directed the registration of the FIR and further investigation without hearing him. Luthra told the court that the Enforcement Directorate (ED), acting on the fresh FIR, had registered a fresh enforcement case information report (ECIR) under money laundering provisions and summoned Vijayan for questioning on October 23. "Howsoever high you will be, you cannot be above law. We will not order a stay on the FIR," the bench observed. "But on the points of whether cognisable offence is made out, the statutory requirement of continuation of investigation, we have said that you need to be heard by the high court," it added. The bench left the ED proceedings untouched, saying it expressed no opinion on the validity of the fresh ECIR and that Vijayan could challenge it in independent proceedings. The case stems from allegations that CMRL paid Exalogic over Rs.2.78 crore between 2017 and 2020 without services being rendered. In January 2017, CMRL engaged Veena as an IT and marketing consultant on a retainer. However, CMRL's tax assessments for 2013-14 to 2019-20 reportedly showed additional payments to Exalogic without corresponding services. The high court had relied on a September 22 communication from the ED to the state police, which disclosed a cognisable offence. The Supreme Court questioned whether the state had independently assessed the information before registering the FIR, citing Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, which requires prior approval from the competent authority before investigating a public servant in certain cases. The Kerala government, represented by senior standing counsel Ramesh Babu, argued that the ED's information disclosed a cognisable offence, as held by the single judge. "It needs to be ascertained whether information received from ED under section 66(2) is a mandate. The single judge goes flip-flop on this issue. We want the division bench to apply its mind," the bench said....