Vijayan skips court, counsel wants Antony examined

KOCHI - Marxist leader Pinarayi Vijayan Thursday failed to appear before a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court here in connection with the SNC Lavalin corruption case, but his counsel demanded that Defence Minister A.K. Antony be examined by the investigating team.

The counsel for Vijayan, M.K. Damodaran, said the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) state secretary was not in good health and would be unable to appear in court.

Damodaran filed a special petition asking that Antony should be examined by the investigation team because he was chief minister in 1995 - the year the consultancy agreement with Canadian company SNC Lavalin was inked.

The CBI had issued summons to six former officials of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB); SNC Lavalin; Claus Trendl, former vice-president of the SNC Lavalin; besides Vijayan to appear before the court here.

The court asked notices to be served to Trendl and SNC Lavalin company and posted the case for Dec 30.

Five former KSEB officials arrived in court Thursday morning and got bail. But former KSEB official K.V. Rajasekharan Nair also did not turn up and he too has been asked to appear before the court Dec 30.

Vijayan, according to the CPI-M party organ, last week filed a news report stating that all his official engagements till Sep 25 has been postponed because of ill health.

On Aug 31, the Supreme Court had issued notices to the Kerala government and the CBI on a petition filed by Vijayan challenging Governor R.S. Gavai’s decision to grant permission to prosecute him in the SNC Lavalin case.

The CBI in June filed chargesheets against nine accused in the Rs.374 crore scam related to the company SNC Lavalin. Vijayan as the state power minister had inked the final agreement in 1997 for renovating three power plants in the state.