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Kerala CM In The Dock As CBI Files Affidavit In SC Saying He Should Face Trial In Lavalin Corruption Scandal
Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister of Kerala. (Anushree Fadnavis/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has told the Supreme Court that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should face trial in the SNC Lavalin corruption case.
The corruption scandal is related to a deal signed by the Kerala government in 1997 with a Canadian firm called SNC-Lavalin for the renovation and modernisation of three hydroelectric projects in the state. Vijayan, who was then Kerala's power minister, was accused of exorbitant pricing. The deal reportedly caused a loss of Rs 374 crore to the exchequer. The CBI registered the case in 2007 and filed the charges two years later. However, In 2013, the trial court cleared Vijayan and top officials of the Kerala State Electricity Board of the charges. The Kerala High Court has also cleared Vijayan of the charges but ordered the trial against some others.
While the High Court has blamed the CBI of pick and choosing its accused, the agency has said the high court had selectively let some accused off the hook in the case and proceeded to order trial against others. The agency has said that there is "ample material to show the involvement" of Vijayan.
The CBI moved the apex court on Saturday to challenge the Kerala High Court's order to discharge Vijayan, which it says was “not correct”. According to Assam Tribune, the case will now come up for hearing on 17 August.
Communist Party of India-Marxist has dismissed the charges as “the handiwork of both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. These two parties have raised it yet again to make it a campaign issue in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Vijayan is innocent. Just as he came out unscathed in the Kerala High Court, he will come clean in the Supreme Court too," said State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.
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