New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram: The Supreme Court on Tuesday set May 1 for the final hearing of the SNC-Lavalin scandal involving Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The matter has been adjourned 36 times since 2017.
“On Tuesday, there are 50-60 matters and the turn normally does not come in so many cases. One way is we admit this matter and list it on Wednesday,” observed a Bench presided over by Justice Surya Kant.
The Bench, also comprising Justice K V Viswanathan, granted two weeks for filing of fresh ‘power of attorney’ as a lawyer representing one of the respondents has been recently designated as a senior advocate.
The matter has been fixed for a final hearing on May 1, 2024. It first came in the apex court in 2017, following the Kerala High Court verdict exonerating Vijayan in the case.
Contending that Vijayan should face trial, the CBI filed a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court. The case pertains to a loss of Rs 374 crore to the Kerala State Electricity Board's (KSEB) contract with the Canada-based SNC Lavalin for the renovation and modernisation of Pallivasal, Sengulam and Panniar hydroelectric projects in Idukki district in 1996, when Vijayan was the Power Minister in the Cabinet of EK Nayanar.