Shone George files plea to become party in KSIDC petition against SFIO probe

Kochi: BJP leader Shone George has filed a plea to become a party in KSIDC's petition against the SFIO inquiry. The High Court will review the petition on Monday. Shone George has alleged that Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) was involved in corporate misconduct.

Earlier this month, the Kerala High Court had declined to stay the SFIO probe into state-run KSIDC, Exalogic and Kochi-based mines company CMRL. On January 31, the central government entrusted the SFIO with probing Exalogic. The fact that CMRL also has a KSIDC representative on its board of directors brought the PSU under investigation.

A controversy erupted in Kerala after Malayalam Manorama reported last year that CMRL had paid a total of Rs 1.72 crore to the chief minister's daughter's firm Exalogic between 2017 and 2020. The news report cited the ruling of an interim board for settlement and said that CMRL previously had an agreement with Veena's IT firm for consultancy and software support services.

It also alleged that though no service was rendered by her firm, the amount was paid on a monthly basis "due to her relationship with a prominent person". The report also cited findings by the Registrar of Companies (ROC) against her firm.

Last week, the Cyber Crime Police filed a case against Shone George following a complaint from T Veena. In her complaint, Veena alleged that Shone had spread misinformation on Facebook about her owning a Canadian company. In his Facebook post, George claimed that Veena as the operating a company named The Key Eleven Inc in Canada.