Congress questions Vijayan's statement on Lavalin case

Congress' Kerala unit president V.M. Sudheeran on Sunday questioned the claim of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan that no case exists against him the SNC Lavalin case.

Vijayan made the assertion while talking to reporters in New Delhi on Saturday.

"How can Vijayan say that there is no case when the petition is before the Kerala High Court? And hence his statement is not right," said Sudheeran in a press release issued here.

This case dates back to 1997 when Vijayan, the then state power minister, entered into an agreement with Canadian company SNC Lavalin to repair three generators of the state electricity board, but it later ended up causing a loss of Rs.266 crore to the exchequer and the Central Bureau of Investigation had named him as an accused in the case.

Though in 2013, the CBI special court here exonerated him, the then Oommen Chandy-led Congress government challenged this in the state high court and the petition has been posted for hearing next month.

--IANS

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