HC directive on SNC Lavlin Case

Kochi, Dec 15 (UNI) A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court today asked the state government to file an affidavit saying it was withdrawing its earlier statement on conducting a CBI probe into the SNC Lavlin Case.

The Bench comprising Chief Justices V K Bali and Justice P R Raman issued the direction while hearing the review petition of the CBI in the case.

In its petition, the CBI contended it was not ready to conduct the investigation because the agency had not been directed to do so as per rules.

The petitioner, T P Nandakumar, had filed a writ petition before the High Court seeking an independent inquiry into the deal between the Canadian Company, SNC Lavlin and the KSEB.

Later, the government decided to hand over the case to the CBI.

Due to the slow pace of the investigation, he filed the contempt petition.

In the contempt petition, the Advocate General said the state had already handed over the file to the CBI. After this, the court recorded the statement and closed the contempt petition.

Meanwhile, there was a change in government in the state. The present government, in a decision taken at a Cabinet meeting, decided to conduct a vigilance enquiry in the matter instead of a CBI investigation.

The Advocate General today submitted the decision of the government to the court.

After hearing the submission, the court told the Advocate General that without withdrawing its earlier statement recorded by the court, they could not submit they were against CBI inquiry.

When the Advocate General then sought time for filing the petition, the court directed him to file the papers before December 19.

UNI XR GKT GM SB KN2126