The Supreme Court has decided to postpone the highly publicized SNC-Lavalin scandal hearing involving Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to September 12. The case was scheduled to be heard by a new bench on Tuesday. Previously, a division bench consisting of Justice M R Shah and Justice C T Ravikumar was handling the case, but Justice Ravikumar recused himself due to his involvement in the Kerala High Court proceedings related to the case.
Currently, there are two pending petitions before the apex court: a CBI petition challenging the acquittal of Pinarayi Vijayan and others in the case, and another petition contesting the High Court’s ruling that they should stand trial. The CBI had approached the Supreme Court on August 23, 2017, following the Kerala High Court’s decision to acquit Pinarayi and two others, namely K Mohanachandran, former power secretary, and Francis.
The allegations against Pinarayi Vijayan stem from his tenure as the power minister in 1996 when he allegedly awarded a contract to Canadian firm SNC-Lavalin, leading to financial losses for the state. Previously, a special court in Thiruvananthapuram had discharged him from the case. However, the case has seen multiple adjournments, with this recent postponement marking the 33rd adjournment so far.
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