Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Govt seeks legal opinion on CBI plea to prosecute Vijayan

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government Wednesday sought legal opinion on the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seeking the governor's sanction to prosecute Pinarayi Vijayan, a ruling party leader and former minister, for a scam.
The government has sought the opinion from Advocate General C.P. Sudhakara Prasad, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan told reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting.

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) state secretary Vijayan has been accused of wrongly awarding contracts to Canadian company SNC Lavalin for renovating two hydro-power projects 12 years ago when he was power minister.

The CBI last month wrote to Kerala Governor R.S. Gavai seeking permission to prosecute Vijayan. According to rules, the governor's permission is necessary to prosecute a minister or a former minister.

Meanwhile, an NGO has filed a petition in the Kerala High Court, arguing that sanction was not needed to launch prosecution in a corruption case.

A division bench of the court Monday heard the petition and sent notices to Vijayan and two others for their replies. The case is posted for Monday.

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