KOCHI: One man stood like a rock behind Pinarayi Vijayan in his two-decade legal fight in the SNC-Lavalin graft case. Yet, when on Wednesday Pinarayi won the hard fought battle, the legal ace MK Damodaran’s absence cast a pall of gloom in the Chief Minister’s camp. If only death had granted him a clemency for seven more days, the legal luminary, who took up the gauntlet and fought the seemingly uphill battle for Pinarayi right from day one, would have let out a triumphant smile.
KA Raju, an advocate clerk who worked with late MK Damodaran for over 20 years, said, “If sir was alive, he would have been very happy. The joy would have kept him alive for a few more days.”
Commenting on the verdict, Pinarayi Vijayan said MK Damodaran’s absence at this moment was heart-wrenching. It was MK Damodaran’s legal acumen that came to Pinarayi’s aid in the case.
His close colleagues remembered that the discharge petition was filed by Pinarayi Vijayan solely on the advice of MKD, as he was known among his close associates. They said MKD was confident that Pinarayi would be acquitted from the case. In fact, despite Pinarayi’s wish, MKD did not take up the post of the legal advisor to the CM as we wanted to focus solely on the SNC-Lavalin case.