KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition to speed up the hearings on the CBI’s bid to challenge the acquittal of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan in a corruption case, called the SNC Lavalin case, dating back to the time when he was the electricity minister in an earlier LDF government.
It instead posted the final hearing of the revision petition filed by CBI in the SNC Lavalin case to March 9. In arguments today, the CBI expressed its willingness to argue the case on February 21, but the counsel for Vijayan and his fellow defendants sought an adjournment to March 8 or 9. The court plumped for March 9.
The CBI’s case is that Pinarayi Vijayan, while serving as the electricity minister from May 1996 to October 1998, hatched a criminal conspiracy along with the other accused, to award a contract to the renovation and modernisation of the Pallivasal, Sengulam, and Panniar hydroelectric projects to SNC-Lavalin at an exorbitant cost to the state. The agency’s allegation was that the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) entered into a memorandum of understanding with the company without inviting tenders and violating rules and regulations.
Pinarayi and his fellow defendants were acquitted by a special court which heard the case at the lower level.
Now, in its revision petition, CBI is contending that by discharging the accused (Pinarayi) and extending the benefit of the discharge order to the other accused who had not even filed discharge petitions, the special court abused its authority.
In today’s proceedings, the High Court gave a sharp rap on the knuckles to the petitioner, Kochi native M R Ajayan, who wanted speedier hearings on the CBI plea. The judges said Ajayan has no right to intrude in the criminal proceedings and represents no public interest. He only approached the court to gain some media publicity, said the court.