34TH Time SNC Lavalin Case Involving CM Vijayan Adjourned by SC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday for the 34th time adjourned the controversial SNC Lavalin case involving Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

This case first came in the apex court in 2017.

The case was adjourned on Tuesday after the CBI asked for it when it came up before the division bench of Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Dutta.

Following the High Court verdict exonerating CM Vijayan in the case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in December 2017 approached the Supreme Court, contending that he should face trial in the case.

The then Chief Justice U.U. Lalit-headed bench in August 2022 posted the case for hearing for September 13, 2017, and said that it should be ensured that it is not deferred, but after that it was deferred two more times.

The case pertains to loss of Rs 374 crore in the Kerala State Electricity Board's (KSEB) contract with the Canadian-based SNC Lavalin for the renovation and modernisation of Pallivasal, Sengulam and Panniar hydroelectric projects in Idukki district in 1996 when Vijayan was the state power minister in the cabinet of E.K. Nayanar.