Supreme Court Posts SNC Lavalin Case For Final Hearing On May 1, 2024

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (February 6) posted the appeal filed by Central Bureau of Investigation challenging the discharge of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and certain officials in the SNC Lavalin case for final hearing on May 1. Connected appeals filed by accused officials who seek discharge in the case will also be heard along with the CBI's appeal.

A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan adjourned the hearing today after being told that Advocates-on-Record of some of the respondents have been recently designated as Senior Advocates, necessitating the need for engaging other AoRs.

Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat, appearing for Congress leader and former Kerala Opposition Leader VM Sudheeran, opposed adjournment saying that the matter has been adjourned 30 times so far. He alleged that the CBI has lost interest in the matter and that most adjournments were at their instance. Countering this, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju submitted that the CBI is taking the matter very seriously and said that they are ready to argue on any date fixed by the Court.

Senior Advocate Ragenth Basant, appearing for another accused, submitted that Sudheeran was not a party to the case and that his submissions are meant for "those outside the Court."

Another lawyer informed the bench that since Gaurav Agarwal, the Advocate-on-Record for one of the respondents, former Principal Secretary (Power) K Mohanachandran, has been designated as a Senior Advocate, another AoR needed to be engaged.

The bench said that it would post the matter for final hearing and listed it in July 2024. At this point, ASG Raju requested an earlier date, either in March or April. The bench said that it would require at least two consecutive hearing days for the matter and the same may not be available in March and April because of several holidays, which would make most days of these months miscellaneous case days. It then agreed to post the matter on May 1.

To recap, the investigating agency alleges that the contract given to SNC Lavalin (a Canadian company) for renovation and refurbishment of 3 hydro-electric projects in Kerala, when Vijayan was Minister of Power (in 1996-98), was marred by corruption. Allegedly, the contract in question resulted in a loss of Rs.86 crores.

In November 2013, a Special CBI Court at Thiruvananthapuram discharged Vijayan and a few other officials charge-sheeted in the case. Four years later, the Kerala High Court upheld the discharge of Vijayan and 2 former Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) officials, but allowed the agency's plea against the discharge of 4 others.

Against the High Court order discharging Vijayan and others, the agency moved the top court in 2018. The officials who were not discharged in the case - former KSEB Chief Account Officer K.G. Rajasekharan Nair, former KSEB Chairman R Sivadasan and former KSEB Chief Engineer Kasthuri Ranga Iyer- also approached the Supreme Court.

In CBI's appeal as well as petitions filed by Nair, Sivadasan and Iyer, the court granted leave to appeal today.

Case Title: Kasthuri Ranga Iyer v. State represented by Addl. Superintendent of Police CBI and Ors., SLP(Crl) No. 7801/2017 (and connected cases)