The developments in the case will be crucial for the CPI(M) as well as the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala.
Published Jul 17, 2023 | 11:50 AM ⚊ Updated Jul 17, 2023 | 11:50 AM
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. (KB Jayachandran)
The Supreme Court will hear the SNC-Lavalin case involving Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday, 18 July, after it was adjourned consecutively a whopping 33 times.
The case has been pending before the apex court since 2017, ever since the CBI appealed against the Kerala High Court verdict that upheld a special court order exonerating Vijayan in the case.
The hearing assumes significance since any adverse observation could affect Vijayan’s political career.
According to available information, a new bench will consider the 28-year-old corruption case — the first ever against a CPI(M) Politburo member.
Justice Surya Kant and Justice Dipankar Dutta will be the members of the fresh bench. Earlier, a bench comprising justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar had heard the case.
The hearing was earlier adjourned when Justice Ravikumar recused himself, pointing out that he heard the same case while he was a judge of the Kerala High Court.
The CBI moved the Supreme Court on 23 August, 2017, after the Kerala High Court acquitted Vijayan and his associates.
Further developments in the case are crucial for the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), now facing strong anti-incumbency feelings in the state.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. (Supplied)
The constant deferring of the case has already won national attention. After filing the appeal, there were no significant follow-ups, and the case was adjourned several times, point out legal experts.
When UU Lalit was the Chief Justice of India, there were attempts to expedite the hearing of the appeal. But nothing happened at the practical level.
As per the charge sheet, Vijayan is the seventh accused in the case.
The controversial deal, which later evolved as a corruption case, dates back to Vijayan’s days as the power minister in the EK Nayanar government.
During that period, the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) struck a deal with Canadian power infrastructure firm SNC-Lavalin to renovate three hydel projects. Though the MoU for a consultancy was signed during the fag end of the 1991-96 Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government, it was converted into a fixed-price deal for the supply of equipment and engineering services after Vijayan became the power minister in 1997.
The total cost of the renovation project was fixed at ₹239.81 crore.
Though the projects were to be completed in September 2001, the renovation works went on till February 2003. A total of ₹250.40 crore sanctioned by the government was used up, and the state faced an additional financing liability of ₹69.83 crore.
The Canadian company accused the KSEB of failing to facilitate a technology transfer and personnel training as envisaged in the contract. The KSEB countered by levelling the allegation that the equipment provided by Lavalin was defective and unusable.
While signing the agreement, Lavalin promised to mobilise funds for a cancer hospital at Thalassery in Vijayan’s native Kannur district. As per the agreement, Lavalin was to mobilise ₹98.30 crore for the hospoital.
But the company could mobilise only ₹8.98 crore till February 2001. The remaining amount was not handed over to the government.
Funds for the cancer centre constituted an integral part of the renovation project agreement. In 2001, a subject committee of the Kerala Assembly found the deal with Lavalin had caused substantial financial losses to the government.
The deal became a matter of intense political debate in 2005 when a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report found that the state had lost ₹374.5 crore.
A vigilance probe initiated by the then Congress government and the preliminary report submitted in the court in early 2006 arraigned eight KSEB officials as accused.
The report, which allegedly saved the politicians involved in the deal and targeted some officials, kicked up a major controversy, and the Congress government then decided to hand over the case to the CBI amid allegations of political vendetta.
By May 2006, the Congress lost power, and the LDF government led by VS Achuthanandan assumed office. Vijayan was the secretary of the front’s largest constituent, CPI(M), and the new government was unwilling to hand over the probe to the CBI.
The government objected to a CBI investigation when a public interest litigation (PIL) was being considered by the high court. In 2007, the high court ordered a CBI probe into the case. In January 2008, the CBI submitted its final report to the high court, arraigning Vijayan as one of the accused.
The central agency sought the Kerala Governor’s sanction to prosecute Vijayan. In June 2009, the then Governor RS Gavai accordeded sanction to prosecute Vijayan.
The CBI charge sheet named 11 people as accused in the case. Except for Vijayan and a senior executive of SNC-Lavalin, all others were KSEB officials.
Vijayan was charged under Sections 120B, 420 of the IPC and Sections 13(1) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The CBI investigation found that Vijayan had shown unusual enthusiasm for the deal. The central agency alleged that the final contract with Lavalin was entered into without the Cabinet’s consent.
The charge sheet also accused Vijayan of holding direct discussions with a senior manager of the State Bank of India to get an exemption of bank guarantee for the amount promised to the MCC (Malabar Cancer Centre) by Lavalin.
The probe also found Vijayan finalised the contract without the formal approval of the KSEB board, and he took particular interest in retaining the cancer hospital under KSEB without bringing it under the Health Department.
In 2013, a CBI trial court in Thiruvananthapuram allowed the discharge petitions filed by Vijayan and six other accused. The verdict helped Vijayan further cement his clout over CPI(M) politics at the state and national levels.
However, the CBI decided to challenge the decision in the high court.
While partially allowing the agency’s revision petition, the high court upheld the trial court verdict allowing the discharge petition.
On 24 August, 2017, the high court upheld the 2013 verdict of the CBI court that allowed Vijayan’s discharge.
The high court observed that the prosecution failed to gather sufficient and satisfactory material to make a prima facie case against Vijayan and the other accused.
It also doubted a political conspiracy behind arraigning Vijayan. The CBI soon appealed to the Supreme Court, and it will hear the petition on Tuesday.
