Kochi | The Kerala High Court on Wednesday sought the response of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter, her firm and various others on a plea seeking further investigation into private mining company CMRL by the SFIO.

The Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) is already facing probes by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with its various financial transactions, including with the CM's daughter and her firm.

Justice C S Dias issued notice to the CM's daughter Veena T, her firm Exalogic, CMRL, its Managing Director S N Sasidharan Kartha and several others on the petition by BJP leader Shone George.

The court also directed the SFIO to file an affidavit in response to George's plea and listed the matter for hearing next on August 25.

According to reports, the SFIO investigation has uncovered a Rs 182 crore financial fraud within the mining company, in which several others are also accused.

It stated that the fraud was carried out by inflating non-existent expenses and creating fake bills.

The SFIO investigation reportedly also found that Veena had received Rs 2.7 crore from the private mining company without providing any services, an allegation denied by Vijayan.