Supreme Court adjourns hearing on SNC-Lavalin case again

The SNC-Lavalin case may now come up during the last week of November or the first half of December

The Supreme Court on October 20 adjourned the hearing of the SNC-Lavalin corruption case appeals against the discharge of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to a date after six weeks as Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit, the lead judge on the Bench, has very few working days left before his retirement on November 8.

The case may now come up during the last week of November or the first half of December.

The case had seen repeated adjournments since January 2018, when the separate appeals filed by the CBI and some of the accused, who were not discharged, were admitted by the apex court.

“The case may go either against you or in your favour,” Chief Justice Lalit addressed senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the accused.

In an earlier hearing, the Bench had cautioned the CBI that it would need to bolster its appeal against Mr. Vijayan with "very strong arguments" as two courts — trial court and the Kerala High Court — had already discharged him of any wrong-doing.

Mr. Vijayan was discharged as an accused by both the Special Court, CBI, in Thiruvananthapuram, and the Kerala High Court.

The CBI has, in its appeal, contended that Mr. Vijayan should face trial in the case.