New Delhi: The Supreme Court has adjourned the hearing of the infamous SNC-Lavalin scandal involving Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday.
A division bench comprising Justices M R Shah and C T Ravikumar was to consider the case on the same day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins his two-day Kerala visit. This is the 33rd adjournment of the hearing in the case.
Justice Ravikumar recused himself from the case as he was a part of the hearing of the case in the Kerala High Court.
A CBI petition against the acquittal of Pinarayi Vijayan and others in the case, and another petition against the High Court ruling that they should face trial are pending before the apex court.
The last time the apex court heard the case was in November 2022 when U U Lalit was the Chief Justice.
The lawyer of the former joint secretary of the energy department A Francis had written to the Court registrar to adjourn the case by three weeks as he was ill.
The CBI had moved the Supreme Court on August 23, 2017, after the Kerala High Court acquitted Pinarayi and two others -- K Mohanachandran, former power secretary and Francis -- from the case.
Pinarayi was accused of awarding a contract to Canadian firm SNC-Lavalin when he was the power minister in 1996 and causing a loss to the state exchequer. A special court in Thiruvananthapuram had earlier discharged him in the case.