The bid of the Kerala Government to blacklist Canadian utility giant SNC lavalin, which had taken up maintenance work at three hydel projects in the State two decades back, suffered a setback – at least a temporary one – on Friday with the High Court asking the Government not to take any action against the company without its prior permission. The court also gave the company four weeks’ time to reply to the notices served on it.
SNC lavalin, one of the accused in a corruption case in Kerala involving CPI(M) Politbureau member and former Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, has rushed to the High Court to defend itself as the case, which was once settled by the trial court, is to be taken up by the High Court soon following a plea from the Government.
Taking up a petition filed on Thursday evening by SNC lavalin against the Government move to blacklist it, Justice AM Muhammed Mushtaq of the High Court said on Friday that the Government should make available all the documents the company had asked for. This is the first time the Canadian company has initiated legal procedures in Kerala.
As per reports, the Kerala Government, in a determined bid to blacklist SNC lavalin, had sent show-cause notices to it on June 10, 2014 and September 28 last year. It had also sent a letter to the company on December 10, 2014. The notices had made it clear that the proposed blacklisting of the company would be in operation for any contracts in future.
The sensational SNC lavalin case pertained to the alleged corruption relating to the Rs374.5-crore contract awarded to it by the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) for repair and renovation of the Pallivasal, Chenkulam and Panniyar hydro-electric projects two decades back when Pinarayi was the Power Minister in the CPI(M)-led Government.
The notice sent by the KSEB informing SNC lavalin of the Government decision to blacklist it had, according to reports, made specific references to the issue of the financial assistance offered by the company to the Malabar Cancer Centre (MCC) for getting the contract for work on the three power projects.
In the petition filed on Thursday, SNC lavalin said the Government’s argument that it had not made available the assistance offered for MCC was wrong. The company argued that all the deals between it and the Kerala Government had ended in 2004 and therefore blacklisting would not be legal.
The company also argued that blacklisting could be done only when there was violation of terms of contract but the terms of contract for work on the three power projects had been fully satisfied. Observers feel that the main reason behind the company’s decision to approach the court was its conviction that blacklisting in Kerala could affect its reputation in the global level.
The High Court had on January 15 agreed to a State Government prayer for early hearing on the revision petitions filed against a lower court order discharging Pinarayi and six others in the SNC lavalin corruption case. The court had also directed posting of the case for early hearing to the third week of February.