HC upholds discharge of Kerala CM in graft case

Kochi, August 23 

The Kerala High Court today upheld the discharge of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan by the trial court in a two-decades-old corruption case, saying the CBI had wrongly “picked” him for prosecution.

Justice P Ubaid also upheld the discharge of the first and eighth accused by the lower court in the Rs 374.50 crore graft case, rejecting the CBI’s plea that their full-fledged trial was necessary to prove the conspiracy charge against them.

The judge noted that it was a Cabinet approved project and “it would be unjust and illegal to pick and chose” the then Electricity Minister Vijayan “and prosecute him for the wrong or illegality committed by the  Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB)”.

The judge passed the orders on a CBI petition filed in 2014 challenging the discharge of Vijayan and six others by a CBI court in Thiruvananthapuram in November, 2013 in the case related to alleged corruption in a deal signed by the KSEB with Canada-based firm SNC Lavalin for the renovation of three hydel projects. — PTI