By IANS
Kochi : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Monday submitted an interim report to the Kerala High Court on a corruption case involving Pinarayi Vijayan, the state secretary of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).
The case pertains to a contract awarded to a Canadian firm, SNC Lavlin, for modernisation of three hydroelectric plants over a decade ago when Vijayan was the power minister.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India found deviations from the prescribed procedures in the selection of the projects as well as in the award of the contract.
A case was filed in the Kerala High Court, which Jan 16 last year ordered a CBI probe into the issue.
The editor of a Malayalam magazine recently moved court over the alleged slow pace of investigation.
Following the petition, the CBI filed an affidavit pointing out that the issue is of a highly technical nature and hence the agency is banking on an expert panel for advice. It added that it would be inappropriate to say when the investigation would be over and when Vijayan and another power minister in 1995 Congress party-led government, G. Karthikeyan, would be quizzed.