Thiruvananthapuram, October 20 — The Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear a plea by former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan seeking a stay on vigilance proceedings in the CMRL-Exalogic case, despite his apprehension of imminent arrest, The Hindu BusinessLine reported on Tuesday.

A vacation bench of Justices Joymala Bagchi and V Mohana will hear the plea of Vijayan, now Kerala's Leader of Opposition; his daughter Veena T and son-in-law, former minister P A Mohamed Riyas, have also approached the apex court against the direction for an FIR in the case.

On October 16, senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for Vijayan, mentioned the matter for an urgent hearing, saying the 82-year-old leader faced the possibility of arrest. 'An 82-year-old man facing possible arrest. We are seeking protection from arrest or any other coercive action. It is a matter of liberty,' Luthra said, according to the report. He challenged the Kerala High Court's order directing registration of an FIR, arguing it was passed by a single judge in proceedings resembling public interest litigation.

The Chief Justice of India then said the court would explore constituting a special bench during the Dussehra vacation, subject to the availability of judges; the Supreme Court is in recess for the Dussehra break and resumes regular functioning on October 26.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday issued a summons under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after registering a case based on a recent FIR filed by the state police, asking Vijayan to appear for questioning on October 23, the report said.

Earlier, the Kerala High Court division bench declined to interfere with the direction to register FIRs against Vijayan, Veena and Riyas over alleged financial transactions between Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) and Veena's now-defunct firm Exalogic Solutions; on October 9 a single-judge bench had ordered the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to initiate a criminal case following a report forwarded by the ED.

The agency has alleged — an allegation, not a proven finding — that CMRL improperly transferred Rs 2.78 crore to Exalogic Solutions by portraying the payments as fees for IT consultancy services. Vijayan has denied wrongdoing.

Sources: The Hindu BusinessLine (October 20, 2026), corroborated by ANI reporting via LatestLY and Particle News on the Wednesday hearing listing, the ED's October 23 summons and the High Court orders.