Vijayan’s plea against Antony dismissed

A CBI court on Monday dismissed the plea of Kerala CPM secretary Pinarayi Vijayan to include Defence Minister AK Antony as a witness in the SNC-Lavalin power scam, reports HT Correspondent.

A CBI court on Monday dismissed the plea of Kerala CPM secretary Pinarayi Vijayan to include Defence Minister AK Antony as a witness in the SNC-Lavalin power scam.

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Vijayan is the seventh accused in the scam in which the state lost Rs 98 crore. He was granted bail on December 30.

Vijayan’s lawyer had approached the court to include Antony as a witness, saying that the crucial discussion in the renovation of three hydroelectric power projects took place when the Congress leader was chief minister in 1996.

Dismissing the plea, the court observed that an accused had no right to make such a demand. It also turned down Vijayan’s plea that the CBI court should monitor the case, saying only higher courts had the right to pass such orders.