The Kerala CPI(M) and Politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan, projected as the left’s chief ministerial candidate for the May Assembly poll, on Friday suffered a setback just a few minutes before the start of his all-Kerala march when the High Court agreed to a State Government prayer for early hearing on the revision petitions filed against a lower court order discharging him and six others in the `374.5crore SNC lavalin corruption case.
Admitting the State Government petition, the High Court directed posting of the case for early hearing to the third week of February considering the element of public interest. Justice P Ubaid, who considered the State Government’s plea for urgent hearing, termed as irrelevant the argument by Pinarayi’s counsel MK Damodaran that the petition was politically motivated.
The Special CBI Court in Thiruvananthapuram had on November 5, 2013 discharged Pinarayi and six other accused saying that the CBI, which probed the case, had failed to prove charges of corruption and conspiracy slapped on them. The High Court’s Friday order came as a stunner for Pinarayi just when he was hoping that the SNC lavalin had lost its steam.
State Director General of Prosecutions T Asifali had on Wednesday filed a plea seeking urgent hearing on the revision petitions filed by the CBI and others challenging the special court order. Critics had interpreted the Congress-led UDF Government’s step as a move to divert attention from the solar scam in which Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was accused of involvement.
The sensational case pertains to the allegation that the Kerala Government had effectively lost the entire `374.5 crore paid as amount for the contract to Canadian utilities giant SNC lavalin for the repair and renovation of three hydro-electric projects in the State two decades ago when Pinarayi was the Power Minister.
On Friday, the CBI, which had filed the revision petition against the special court verdict, did not take a definite stand on early hearing over its revision petition but said that it did not want to adopt a negativistic stand. CBI counsel Chandrasekhara Pillai said the court could decide the course of action over its revision plea.
Pinarayi’s counsel argued that the State Government had no right to file a petition in the case as it was the CBI which had filed the revision plea and that the case was politically motivated and was being stirred up to coincide with Pinarayi’s Kerala march. He also claimed that the Government had suffered no loss because of the deal with SNC lavalin.
The Government submitted that the High Court itself had earlier opined that the deal had caused losses to the Exchequer. Though the Justice Ubaid wondered what the necessity of taking up the revision pleas urgently was, he directed posting of case for early hearing to the third week of February by saying that it seemed there was some substance in the Government’s stand.
At the same time, the CPI(M) launched its pre-poll Pinarayi-led all-Kerala march, Nava Kerala Yatra, raising the slogan of “Secular, Corruption-free and Developed Kerala” on Friday evening. CPI(M)’s former general secretary Prakash Karat inaugurated the Yatra at Uppala in Kasaragod district in the presence top State party leaders.
The Yatra, covering all the 140 Assembly constituencies in the State, will conclude at Thiruvananthapuram on February 14. Pinarayi had started the march, reported to be intended at establishing him as the left’s CM candidate in the May Assembly poll, by visiting the victims of Endosulfan poisoning in Kasaragod district.
The CPI(M) has taken a decision not to give “undue importance to the politically motivated SNC lavalin case” and to focus all its energies on the efforts to make Pinarayi’s Yatra a huge success, paving way for the left’s victory in the Assembly election in May.