The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday had summoned Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s son, Vivek Kiran, for questioning in 2023 in connection with the Lavalin case, according to a regional media report. The summons reportedly comes after the ED received information suggesting that Dileep Rahulan had spent money on Vivek Kiran’s education.
The agency has indicated that statements also suggest Pinarayi Vijayan and his son received funds from Dileep Rahul, as recorded in the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR). Earlier, media reports emerged that ED summoned Vivek Kiran in February 2023 in the Life Mission case, which involved alleged irregularities in the construction of flood-relief apartments in Wadakkancherry, Thrissur.
The summons, issued by then ED Assistant Director P K Anand in Kochi, directed him to appear on February 14, 2023. The Life Mission project involves the construction of apartments in Wadakkancherry, Thrissur, funded by the UAE Red Crescent for families affected by the 2018 Kerala floods.
It was alleged in the ED’s case that Unitac Builders, which undertook the project, paid a commission of Rs 4.5 crore to middlemen, including state representatives. M Sivasankar, former principal secretary to the CM, was earlier arrested in connection with the case.
Lavalin case:
A financial scandal related to a hydroelectric infrastructure contract between the Kerala Government and the Canadian company SNC-Lavalin in 1995 resulted in an alleged net loss to the Indian exchequer of 3,745,000,000 rupees. The contract outlined the renovation and modernisation of the hydroelectric power stations at Pallivasal, Sengulam, and Panniar that were originally installed between 1940 and 1964 in the Idukki district of Kerala, India.
