Severely criticising the CBI for the several lapses in the chargesheet of the SNC-Lavalin case, the CBI court here asked why Speaker G Karthikeyan, who was the Power Minister at the time of signing the MoU, was not included in the list of accused. The verdict in the case will be pronounced on November 5
While hearing the discharge petition filed by CPM secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, CBI Judge R Reghu observed that there was contradictions in the chargesheet filed by the CBI and its arguments. The court also asked how Vijayan,
who was not in the scene at the time of the MoU, was made an accused. The court also mentioned that the CBI had earlier said that Vijayan had not made any monetary gain from the deal with SNC-Lavalin.
The judge pointed out that it were the Canadian agencies - Canadian International Development Agency and Export Development Canada - that had promised the grant for the Malabar Cancer Centre (MCC). A pact could not have made with Lavalin based on this promise.
There will be no legal validity even if the deal for financial aid for MCC was incorporated in the agreement, the court said, and asked if anyone could be charged for not enforcing a promise that couldn’t be made into a legally-binding agreement.