The Kerala High Court on Thursday granted the CBI two months to advance its final arguments on its criminal revision petition filed against the Thiruvananthapuram CBI special court verdict discharging Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and six others in the SNC-Lavalin corruption case.
Justice B. Kemal Pasha passed the order on a petition filed by the CBI urging the court to post the case for final hearing after two months. The CBI submitted that it needed two months time so that it could engage Additional Solicitor General of India Paramjith Singh Patwalia for the CBI in the case. The proposal of the CBI to engage him was pending consideration.
Meanwhile, the judge dismissed the petitions filed by K.M. Shajahan, former additional private secretary of former Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan, T.P. Nandakumar, Jeevan, and K.R. Unnithan seeking to implead in the case.
The court said the revision petitions filed by third parties could not be entertained in view of the pendency of the revision filed by the CBI. The court concurred with the arguments of the CBI counsel that entertainment of the revision petitions filed by private persons and third parties might cause hindrance and obstructions to the claims of the CBI. Therefore, all such revision petitions should be weeded out.
Referring to the plea by Mr. Jeevan and another petitioner, the court said that even if any person was in possession of some documents to prove the case, the same was of any use at all at this stage. In fact, they should have challenged the investigation conducted by the CBI or the final report through appropriate proceedings.
In the absence of any challenge against the final report filed under Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code or the documents produced along with, the third parties could not come forward with documents at this stage and plead that the matter be remitted to the Special Court for considering their documents.
