KOCHI: The CBI on Tuesday filed an appeal in the Supreme Court challenging the Kerala High Court order acquitting Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other accused in the SNC Lavalin case. As per the details available with the CBI Kochi Unit, the documents related to the case was sent to CBI Legal Cell in New Delhi last week.
The legal cell of the CBI filed the appeal on Tuesday evening. The appeal was filed by advocate Mukesh Kumar Maroria for the CBI. The petition has been accepted in the diary as appeal number 41767/2017 which would be considered by the court later. There were reports that the CBI, in its petition, claimed that there was crucial evidence against Pinarayi Vijayan and about his involvement in the case. According to the CBI, as Electricity Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan was fully aware of the agreement made with the Canadian company SNC Lavalin.
Earlier, the CBI could not meet the deadline of 90 days stipulated to file the appeal before the apex court challenging the High Court decision. There was a delay as the Personnel Department and the Law Ministry had not given the consent to file the appeal. Following this, the agency had filed a ‘delay condonation’ petition along with the appeal. The ‘delay condonation’ petition substantiates the reasons why the appeal could not be filed before the SC within 90 days.