Kerala HC order Lavalin case hearing on December 15

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday fixed December 15 for the hearing of a CBI revision petition in the SNC Lavalin case.

Kochi, Nov 29: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday fixed December 15 for the hearing of a CBI revision petition in the SNC Lavalin case.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was an accused in the case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, but a special court here exonerated him in 2013.

The CBI then approached the high court against the exoneration.

Justice Sunil Thomas, who heard the case in place of his senior colleague Justice B. Kemal Pasha, decided to post the case for December 15.

K.N. Natarajan, Additional Solicitor General of India, is slated to appear for the CBI.

An agreement with Canadian company SNC Lavalin in 1997, when Vijayan was Power Minister, to repair three generators caused a loss of Rs 266 crore to the exchequer.

Vijayan was arraigned by the CBI as the seventh accused in the case, causing a lot of political furore.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist leadership came to his defence when it said there was no reason for him to step down as Secretary of the Kerala State Committee of the CPI(M) as it is not a constitutional post.

IANS