Keralam Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on Friday said the government would take an appropriate decision on the Kerala High Court’s directive to register an FIR against Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan and others in the ₹1.72-crore CMRL-Exalogic payoff case after examining the order.

Addressing the media on the sidelines of c0c0n 2026, an annual cybersecurity conference in Kochi, Mr. Chennithala said the government had so far acted in the case only on the basis of legal advice and that the latest court order was not a setback for the UDF government.

“We will examine the court order and take a decision without delay. The special investigation team (SIT) was formed to probe the case following the legal opinion we received on the steps to be taken on a report received by the State Police Chief from the Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The petition before the High Court came up even as the SIT was going ahead with its procedures. Now we will go through the order and take proper legal steps,” he said.

The Home Minister stressed that the SIT was formed specifically in accordance with the guidelines laid down in the Lalita Kumari v. Government of Uttar Pradesh case.

“We have followed the guideline that an FIR should be registered only after a preliminary examination in five types of complaints. If the High Court says otherwise, then we will take legal steps after examining the order,” he said.

Asked about the Congress’s stance against the alleged political motives of the ED in cases against Opposition leaders, Mr. Chennithala said the UDF government had not acted hastily on the basis of the central agency’s report. “We acted only after seeking the legal opinion,” he said.

On possible complaints against UDF leaders whose names have been mentioned in a purported diary of S. Sasidharan Kartha, managing director of Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL), among those who allegedly received payments from him, Mr. Chennithala said, “Let them come.”

The Home Minister’s reaction came soon after the Kerala High Court directed that an FIR be registered, incorporating offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, against Mr. Vijayan, his daughter T. Veena, and his son-in-law and CPI(M) leader P.A. Mohamed Riyas in the ₹1.72-crore CMRL-Exalogic payoff case.