In a huge legal victory for Kerala’s CPI(M) secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in the `374.5-crore SNC lavalin corruption case, the High Court on Tuesday ordered splitting of the chargesheet into two in the context of the non-availability of two accused foreign nationals for trial. Pinarayi is seventh of the nine accused in the case.
The High Court’s order to split the chargesheet and hold the trials separately came on the petitions Pinarayi and another accused, former KSEB chairman Siddhartha Menon, had submitted seeking orders to hold the trial of two of the accused who had not so far appeared separately and to expedite the proceedings on the case against the other seven accused.
Pinarayi had approached the High Court with the plea after his earlier petition seeking similar orders was rejected by the Special CBI Court in Thiruva nanthapuram. Those who have not so far appeared are sixth accused Klaus Trendl, former vice-president of Canada-based utility company SNC lavalin and representative of the firm which has been listed as ninth accused.
Pinarayi said the delay in starting trial had spread a shadow of uncertainty over his political career. He said such a huge delay in the trial of the case was equivalent to denial of justice. Pinarayi is first CPI(M)’s State secretary and Politbureau member to face trial in a corruption case in party’s history.
The CBI had filed the chargesheet against the nine accused in June, 2009 charging Pinarayi with criminal conspiracy but the trial in the case could not start because of the agency’s inability to bring Canadian citizen Trendl and a representative of the Canadian company to India. The CBI argued that the inability to issue summons to the foreign accused was a legal matter.
The case pertains to the alleged corruption in the Rs 374.5-crore contract awarded to the Canadian company in 1996 when Pinarayi was the Power minister for the repair and renovation of the three hydel projects in the State. The CAG later found that the State had suffered huge losses due to the contract and that the renovation had not brought the desired result.
Granting Pinarayi’s plea for splitting the chargesheet and the trial, the High Court ordered expeditious completion of the trial, which it observed was the fundamental right of the accused. Opposing Pinarayi’s petition, the CBI had submitted that efforts were on to bring the two foreign accused into India.
As per the High Court order, the chargesheet the CBI had submitted in 2009 will have to be split into two – one against the seven accused who are available for trial and the other against the two foreign accused – and hold the trials separately. The trial is to be held at the Special CBI Court in Thiruvananthapuram.