Kerala HC fixes January 4 for hearing in Lavalin case

Kochi, Dec 15 The Kerala High Court on Thursday fixed January 4 for hearing on a CBI revision petition in the SNC Lavalin case.

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.

Hearing the petition on Thursday, the court said it was ready to hear all parties from January 4 and hold continuous sittings thereafter till January 12. 

Additional Solicitor General of India K.N. Natarajan, who appeared for the CBI, said he needed three days to present his arguments.

The case pertains to an agreement with Canadian company SNC Lavalin in 1997, when Vijayan was the state Power Minister, to repair three generators, which allegedly caused a loss of Rs 266 crore to the exchequer.

Vijayan was arraigned by the CBI as the seventh accused in the case, leading to a political furore.

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