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Lavalin case postponed again: Is CBI helping Pinarayi Vijayan?

  • Kerala High Court once again postponed the SNC Lavalin case.

 

Lavalin case Is CBI helping Pinarayi Vijayan

Giving rise to doubts that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was playing hand in hand with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the SNC Lavalin case, the Additional Solicitor General, who was supposed to appear for the agency in the High Court on Thursday did not turn up, forcing another postponement. The court postponed the case to 9 February month. The court also dismissed a petition filed by a journalist demanding speedy disposal of the case.  

 

Kerala was awaiting eagerly for the High Court verdict in the revision petition filed by the CBI against the acquittal of the accused, including Pinarayi Vijayan, in the SNC Lavalin scam on Thursday. The case saw repeated postponement in the past, in some pretext or the other. 

 

When the case was taken up on Monday, Vijayan's counsel was absent, and it was postponed further. When Oommen Chandy government approached the High Court last year to with the same demand, the court had warned that the court should not be used for political goals. 

 

If the court accepts the CBI plea and nullifies the special CBI court's judgement discharging Pinarayi Vijayan, it would trigger a political storm in the state.  Vijayan would be under tremendous pressure  to quit as the Chief Minister, if the case reopens. 


The case pertains to a corruption case involving Vijayan, who was the Electricity Minister from May 1996 to October 1998. It was alleged that the awarding of the contract for the renovation and modernisation of the Pallivasal, Sengulam and Panniyar hydroelectric projects to SNC-Lavalin, a Canadian company at a very high cost, incurred a huge loss to the state exchequer. The CAG had found that the state lost Rs.374.5 crores in the contract.
 

In 2013, a CBI special court had discharged Vijayan and six others by observing that the agency failed to prove that the accused received kickbacks from the Canadian company.  

 

SNC-Lavalin Scam

  • 1995 August 10: Kerala Electricity Minister G Karthikeyan signed the first MoU with SNC-Lavalin.
  • 1996 February 24: Electricity Board signed an agreement with SNC Lavalin for technical supports, consultancy and supervision. 
  • The agreement set a deadline of 3 years and fixed the consultancy fees at Rs.20.31 crores
  • 1996 October: Pinarayi Vijayan visited Canada and signed another agreement with SNC Lavalin, changing the consultancy agreement to supply agreement of equipment.
  • Besides consultancy fees, Kerala agreed to buy equipment at Rs.149.15 crores
  • 1997:  final agreement. 
  • Meanwhile, the public sector BHEL had offered the government to undertake the renovation work at a much lower cost. But this offer was trashed by the government. 
  • 1998 January: Electricity Board okays final agreement with a foreign aid of Rs.130 crores.
  • 1998 March: State cabinet gives approval to the project in 
  • Even though SNC-Lavalin had offered to pay Rs 98.30 crore to Malabar Cancer Centre in Kannur, it got only Rs.8.98 crores. 
  •  2001 December: The first phase of the renovation project was completed. 
  • UDF comes up with allegation that the project was smacked with corruption. 
  • 2003 March: Chief Minister AK Antony directs Vigilance to look into the allegations. 
  • 2005 March:  CAG report alleges huge loss to the exchequer. 
  • 2006 February: Vigilance report recommends taking a case against 80 officials. Pinarayi Vijayan was not named in the report. 
  • 2006 March: Oommen Chandy government leaves the case to CBI. 
  • 2008 March: CBI interim report alleges huge loss to the state. 
  • 2009 January: CBI calculates 86.25 crores to state, lists Pinarayi Vijayan and 11 others as accused. 
  • 2013: CBI court discharges Pinarayi Vijayan in the case. 
     
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