There has been a decision regarding the Lavalin case by the SC. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday received a jolt after the Supreme Court asked it to come up with very strong grounds to appeal against the discharge of Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan in the SNC Lavalin graft case. The CBI had moved the SC against the removal of the Chief Minister, who was initially named as allegedly involved in the controversial case. Meanwhile, the CBI told the Supreme Court that this is a cross-appeals matter filed in 2017, and it will file a comprehensive note with the factual aspects of the matter.
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Judges consisting of Justices UU Lalit, Vineet Saran and S Ravindra Bhat was told by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, that this is an appeal against the discharge of the accused. This is in regard to the case of alleged corruption in awarding the contract to the Canadian firm Lavalin when Pinarayi Vijayan was Power Minister in 1996. This move allegedly caused a loss of Rs 374.50 crore to the state exchequer.
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The SC said that the trial court had initially discharged some accused in the case and the Kerala High Court had upheld the decision. The bench said that, since two courts have concurrently held that certain accused should not be tried in the case, the CBI must come up with very strong grounds to shake that finding in the matter. Mehta said that initially public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the Kerala High Court, ordering a CBI probe in the case.
