Court upholds discharge of Kerala CM in SNC Lavalin corruption case

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday upheld the discharge of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan by the trial court in a two-decades-old corruption case, saying the CBI had wrongly “picked” him for prosecution.

Justice P Ubaid also upheld the discharge of the first and eighth accused by the lower court in the Rs 374.50 crore graft case, rejecting the CBI’s plea that their fullfledged trial was necessary to prove the conspiracy charge against them.

The judge noted that it was a Cabinet approved project and “it would be unjust and illegal to pick and chose” the then Electricity Minister Vijayan “and prosecute him for the wrong or illegality committed by the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB)”.

The judge passed the orders on a CBI petition filed in 2014 challenging the discharge of Vijayan and six others by a CBI court in Thiruvananthapuram in November, 2013 in the case related to alleged corruption in a deal signed by the KSEB with Canada-based firm SNC Lavalin for the renovation of three hydel projects.

The court, however, allowed the CBI petition in part by setting aside the discharge of three other accused, who were officials of KSEB.

Vijayan, who was the seventh accused in the case, said the verdict clearly vindicated CPI(M)’s stand that it was a ‘politically motivated’ case to tarnish the party’s image at the national level.

“The truth has won...,” a jubilant Vijayan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram adding he always believed in judiciary.

The party Politburo said in a statement that the case was sought to be used to “besmirch” the image of Vijayan and the party and added the court verdict has “effectively exposed these efforts”.

The deal was first signed in February 1996 as consultancy contracts, but after Vijayan became the power minister in the then LDF regime headed by E K Nayanar, they were changed to supply contracts that provided for purchase of machineries from Canada.