The High Court had earlier directed the firm’s officials to appear before the ED under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 and to cooperate with the probe. | Photo Credit: R.K. Nithin The Kerala High Court on Friday (June 5, 2026) dismissed an appeal filed by CMRL and its officials seeking to quash the proceedings the ED had initiated against them in the monthly pay-off case involving Exalogic Solutions, a now-defunct IT firm owned by Veena T., the daughter of Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The court held that the ED is not barred from initiating civil action with regard to the case, even without the registration of an FIR or a complaint in the predicate offence. Registration of an FIR is needed only for criminal cases, it held and went on to dismiss the appeal.