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Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan should face trial in graft case: CBI tells SC

Agencies
July 29, 2018

Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 29: The CBI has told the Supreme Court that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who was discharged from all criminal and corruption charges in the SNC Lavalin case, "should face trial".

In an affidavit filed in the court, the Central Bureau of Investigation questioned the discharge of Vijayan and two others, saying the Kerala High Court orders in this regard was "not correct".

The CBI has challenged the High Court's August 23, 2017, order to discharge Vijayan, K. Mohanachandran, former Principal Secretary in Department of Power, and A. Francis, then department Joint Secretary. The High Court had given the go-ahead for the trial of remaining three accused, who are Kerala State Electricity Board officials.

Objecting to the High Court's decision to discharge certain accused and making remaining charge-sheeted persons to face trial, the CBI said: "Vijayan should also face trial for the same set of offences".

"The specific acts and omissions of each accused can only be decided in a properly conducted trial and the discharge of some accused may adversely impact the outcome vis-a-vis those tried in court," said the CBI affidavit.

Reacting to the fresh development, Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala told the media that it had now been proved right what they had been saying all along. "Vijayan should now react to this... we have been saying all through that he has a role in it."

Vijayan, however, has not responded so far.

The case pertains to an agreement with Canadian firm SNC Lavalin in 1997 for the renovation and modernisation of Pallivasai, Sengulam and Panniar hydroelectric projects in Idukki district of Kerala, which allegedly caused a loss of Rs 266 crore to the exchequer.

Vijayan was then the Power Minister in Kerala.

The three accused directed to face trial too had approached the apex court, asking why they were not treated on par with Vijayan and two co-accused discharged in the case.

The CBI maintained that the High Court order was "bad in law" and its findings that Vijayan and two others need not to face the trial amounts to "clear differentiation" between two sets of accused.

"Without the knowledge of Vijayan and two others, the consultancy agreements would not have been converted into supply contracts on fixed rates on February 10, 1997, when Vijayan was (Power) Minister and had gone to Canada along with Mohanachandran (also discharged in the case) as a guest of Lavalin and during the visit the decision to sign the supply contract was taken by Vijayan," the affidavit added.

"The wilful omissions and commissions on the part of the public servants provided the opportunity to SNC Lavalin for deriving wrongful gains, casing corresponding loss to the KSEB," it added.

A bench of Justice N.V. Ramana and Justice Abdul Nazeer had earlier stayed the trial of the case and sought the CBI's response.

On November 5, 2013, a CBI court in the state capital exonerated all the accused, without taking up the case for trial.

However, a year later, the CBI approached the High Court against the CBI court's exoneration, which ordered the trial against three persons and discharged three others, including Vijayan.

A criminal case was registered on February 12, 2007, and the CBI filed its charge sheet on June 12, 2009.

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News Network
February 26,2020

Feb 26: In his first reaction to incidents of violence in Delhi which have left at least 20 people dead, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday appealed for peace and brotherhood, and said he has held an extensive review of the prevailing situation in various parts of the national capital.

He also said it was important that calm and normalcy was restored at the earliest.

“Had an extensive review on the situation prevailing in various parts of Delhi. Police and other agencies are working on the ground to ensure peace and normalcy,” Modi tweeted.

Stressing that peace and harmony are “central to our ethos”, Modi said, “I appeal to my sisters and brothers of Delhi to maintain peace and brotherhood at all times.”

At least 20 people have been killed since Sunday in communal violence in Northeast Delhi, triggered after clashes between pro and anti-CAA protestors over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

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News Network
May 30,2020

New Delhi, May 30: An Air India flight from Delhi to Moscow on Saturday had to return midway after the airline's ground team found out that one of the pilots had tested positive for novel coronavirus, officials said.

"When the A320 plane, which did not have any passengers as it was heading to Moscow to bring back stranded Indians under Vande Bharat Mission, had reached Uzbekistan's airspace, our team on ground realised that one of the pilots had tested COVID-positive," senior Air India officials said.

"The flight was immediately asked to return. It came back to Delhi at around 12.30 pm on Saturday," the officials said. The crew has been quarantined. Another plane would be sent to Moscow to bring back the stranded Indians, according to the officials.

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News Network
January 1,2020

New Delhi, Jan 1: In the backdrop of huge losses borne by airlines, Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said the government is concerned that more airlines will shut down if predatory pricing continues. "Some predatory pricing is taking place" in airfares, the minister told reporters on Tuesday. Mr Puri however ruled out any plan by the government to regulate airfares. The remarks come amid high competition in the country's aviation sector, struggling against high fuel prices and other operating costs.

"The interesting thing that we have observed is that on Delhi-Mumbai route 20 years ago, the average fare was Rs 5,100. Today, the average fare is Rs 4,600. Some predatory pricing is taking place. It means people are selling tickets below their cost," he said.

"One of our concerns is that if there is predatory pricing, then the airlines will stop functioning. This is not Air India's problem only. Jet Airways got shut down. Before that, it was Kingfisher airline," he said.

IndiGo and SpiceJet - two of the country's biggest airlines - reported losses of Rs 1,062 crore and Rs 463 crore respectively in the second quarter of 2019-20. Other airlines have also reported losses in the quarter that ended on September 30, 2019.

Asked if predatory pricing is the reason for the ill health of the airlines, the minister said, "No, there are many reasons... Predatory pricing is one of the factors. But the profitability of an airline is dependent on (a) number of things."

Asked if the trend of predatory pricing has come down after regular discussion with the airlines, he said, "Yes, absolutely."

"It is (a) constant battle. An ideal situation from an airline's point of view is that they grow and they are also able to charge more fares. What fares they charge is their business. Our advice to them is to charge realistic fares," he added. "It should not be too high. And it is not in your business interests if you are imposing predatory fares."

The minister also said that the government is not planning to regulate fares. "No regulation. It has to be done within deregulation system.... If I put a cap on fare, the airline will start charging that cap only... that cap will become the normal fare... So, within a deregulated structure, we have to bring about an equilibrium," the minister said.

"Government, periodically, at my level or at secretary''s level, we sit down with the main aircraft operators and tell them it is in your interest not to allow such practices which undermine the civil aviation sector."

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