Further tightening the noose around CPI (M) Politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan in the multi-crore SNC Lavalin case, the CBI on Thursday submitted the chargesheet in the special court in Kochi. Vijayan has been arraigned as the seventh accused in the chargesheet.
The CBI, last Sunday, had obtained the governor?s sanction to prosecute the state secretary of the CPI (M), who was the power minister from 1996 to 1998. Vijayan inked the controversial deal to renovate power projects with Canadian firm SNC lavalin during his tenure.
The 10-page chargesheet and 300 documents running to 3000 pages, were submitted to special judge P A Jyothindra Nath by CBI DY SP Ashok Kumar V, who led the investigation for the Chennai unit of the agency. Vijayan has been slapped with sections 420 and 120 (B) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 13 (2) and 13 (1B) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
When the agency submitted the investigation report in the High Court in January, the case had 11 accused with Vijayan as the ninth. As two of the accused died, as per the chargesheet, the case has only nine persons as accused. Canadian firm SNC Lavalin?s senior vice-president Claus Trendel is the sixth accused.
The CBI had sought the chief secretary?s sanction to prosecute two former bureaucrats, K Mohana Chandran and A Francis. While recommending to the governor not to give sanction to prosecute Vijayan, the state cabinet had also decided in favour of the former bureaucrats. However, the CBI hopes to clear this hurdle during the next course of the case.
Public interest litigation is likely to come up in the high court, seeking a direction to the government that prosecution must be sanctioned against the two bureaucrats as well.
The chargesheet mentions the alleged over-enthusiasm shown by Vijayan in inking the deal with SNC Lavalin for the modernisation of three power projects in the state. He had allegedly exerted pressure on officials to rush the deal. The state cabinet was kept in dark about the facts of the deal, it says.