Kochi/Kottayam | The Congress and BJP have welcomed a Kerala High Court verdict dismissing CMRL's appeal against an ED probe into its financial dealings with former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter Veena T.

Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan and BJP leader Shone George also called for an investigation into the corruption allegations linked to the matter on Friday.

It was on George's complaint that the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) initiated a probe into the financial dealings of the company.

It subsequently resulted in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) initiating a money laundering investigation into the financial dealings of CMRL with Veena.

The BJP leader alleged that the amounts given to Veena's firm were "bribes" meant for the former chief minister.

Kuzhalnadan was the one who had raised, inside and outside the Assembly, the issue of Veena's now defunct firm Exalogic receiving money from Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL), allegedly without providing any service to the mining company.

He said he was happy with the high court decision and alleged that if the corruption angle is probed, it would reach Vijayan.

Vijayan has not responded to the allegations.

A division bench of the Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed CMRL's appeal against a single judge's verdict allowing the ED to continue its money laundering probe into the mining company's financial dealings with Veena.

The May 26 single-judge verdict held that the ED could proceed with its investigation under the PMLA even before the SFIO files a formal FIR or final report.

Following the single-judge order, the ED on May 27 conducted searches at the residences of Vijayan and others as part of its investigation into the money laundering case involving his daughter.

The case stems from Income Tax searches conducted at CMRL's offices and the residences of its senior executives in January 2019.