By IANS,
Kochi : A petition was filed Thursday in a Kerala court to include Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and former finance minister T. Sivadasan Menon as accused in the SNC Lavalin corruption case in which Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan has been named.
The petition by T.P. Nandakumar in a special Central Bureau of Invetigation (CBI) court says Balakrishnan’s name should be included because the deal to renovate three power plants was inked when the latter was a member of the Kerala State Electricity Board.
In June 2009, the CBI filed chargesheet against nine people in the Rs.374-crore scam. Vijayan was the state power minister in 1997 when the agreement to renovate the power plants was signed with SNC lavalin.
The petitioner alleges that names of Balakrishnan and Menon were omitted because they were ministers at the time of filing the chargesheet.