KOCHI: Refuting the conspiracy in the later stages of awarding the contract to SNC-Lavalin company, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday told the Kerala High Court the allegations raised by the CBI against him in the case were baseless and not supported by any evidence.
The CBI had alleged Pinarayi and the other accused had hatched a criminal conspiracy to award the contract for the renovation and modernisation of the Pallivasal, Sengulam, and Panniar hydroelectric projects to Lavalin at an exorbitant cost.
The accused abused their respective official positions with dishonest intention and thereby awarded the contract to the company violating all rules and regulations, it said.
Denying the allegation, Pinarayi in his reply statement submitted, “there is nothing to suggest that there was a conspiracy as alleged. There was no ‘meeting of the minds’ between the accused in order to commit any illegal act.”
Cancer hospital
The allegation against Pinarayi by the CBI that he mooted the proposal for setting up a cancer hospital at Thalassery and the main consideration in awarding the supply contract to Lavalin, who is not an original equipment manufacturer, was the offer of the grant of Rs 98.3 crore for the Malabar Cancer Centre (MCC), was baseless.
Pinarayi said the allegation of the CBI that he knowing fully well about the deal and with dishonest intention of doing undue favour to the Lavalin entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) on April 25, 1998, instead of a legally binding agreement for the MCC to be established with the grant arranged by Lavalin was incorrect.
He also denied the allegation that a high-level delegation headed by him which visited Canada during 1996 was to hold discussions with Lavalin. Pinarayi said the offer made by Lavalin to provide funds for the cancer centre was not actually part of the MoU or the first contract.
There was no offer made by the Lavalin to provide funds for the cancer centre at the time of original MoU or original contract.
CIDA offer
The idea for establishment of the MCC and financial assistance was mooted in the meeting with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) held in Canada in 1996 when he and other officers visited. The offer had no connection whatsoever with the R and M of PSP project or original contract entered into between Lalavin and KSEB.
The offer for financial assistance was from CIDA. The Canadian government used to provide financial assistance through CIDA for social welfare projects in developing and underdeveloped countries with whom it had business transactions.
The offer was made to the state government and not to the KSEB. The lack of a valid agreement between the society and Lavalin coupled with the state’s slowness in submission of the much-requested letter to the government of Canada hampered the ability to find new funds.
The Lavalin had contributed to the MCC the assistance obtained from CIDA for completion of the first phase of the MCC. The further attempt of Lavalin to collect more assistance from Canadian agencies could not materialise due to lapses on the part of the state government. Lavalin had requested the state government to execute an agreement in place of MoU till December 2002.
According to Pinarayi, all the addendum and revisions were executed by the KSEB and Lavalin. “The Government of Kerala is not a party to any of these contracts,” said Pinarayi.