Thiruvananthapuram: The charges against CPI (Marxist) state Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in the SNC Lavlin case has been dropped by the CBI special court in Thiruvananthapuram. This comes as a major relief for Vijayan as it has paved the way for his re-entry into electoral politics after a break of almost 15 years.
The special court dropped the charges against Vijayan and six others while observing that the charges against the accused were baseless. The court also observed that the prosecution failed to establish dishonest and fraudulent intention and abuse of official position.
Pinarayi Vijayan later said in a press conference that with the court verdict it has been proved that the case was politically motivated. "Let this be the last case in which agencies like CBI are used for settling political scores. The cases were politically motivated and my party and I had said from the beginning itself that we will deal with it legally and politically," he said.
He added that even the agency conducting the inquiry had to admit that he did not make any financial benefit from the contract. He also said that he is very happy that his party stood with him from the beginning.
The case pertained to a Rs 250 crore deal between KSEB and SNC Lavlin for the renovation of three hydro power projects in Pallivasal, Shenkulam and Panniyar. As part of the agreement the company had offered a financial assistance of Rs 98 crore for Malabar Cancer Centre but received only Rs 8.98 crore. Vijayan was the seventh accused in the case.
The order comes as a blow to opposition leader VS Achuthanandan, who had taken a strong stand against Vijayan in this case. Till recently Achuthanandan said that he believed the CAG report in the Lavlin case. After the verdict he said, "I welcome the court order. I don't want to say more about this."
With the court order the case that has created waves in Kerala politics from 2005 has been quashed. A CBI inquiry was ordered in the case in 2007.
However, CBI sources said that the agency will file a revision petition in the High Court.
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