Kochi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has confirmed that it had, in fact, issued a summons in 2023 to Vivek Kiran, the son of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. It has now also come to light that the summons was linked to the SNC-Lavalin case, in which Pinarayi Vijayan had been named during his tenure as the state's Electricity Minister. However, there remains little clarity on the actions taken after the summons was issued to Vivek Kiran, which continues to be listed on the ED’s official website even two and a half years later. The nature of his alleged connection to the Lavlin case, too, remains unspecified.

The summons, issued under the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) No. KCZO-02-2020, was sent by ED Assistant Director P K Anand on February 14, 2023, to the Cliff House, the official residence of the Chief Minister.

According to ED sources, the move was based on confidential statements made by Swapna Suresh, an accused in the gold smuggling and Life Mission cases, as well as a complaint filed by T P Nandakumar, editor of the Crime Magazine.

In her secret deposition given in connection with multiple cases, Swapna Suresh alleged that M Sivasankar, former Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, had roles in the gold smuggling, dollar smuggling, Life Mission and Lavalin cases and that the Chief Minister was aware of these activities. She also claimed that while serving as KSEB Chairman in 2013, Sivasankar had destroyed crucial documents related to the SNC-Lavalin agreement, which had allegedly caused a loss of Rs.374 crore to the state exchequer in 1996.

Similar allegations had earlier been raised by journalist T P Nandakumar too in a complaint submitted to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in 2006 regarding the Lavalin case. However, no case was registered at the time. Following this, Nandakumar sent fresh letters on the issue to the Union Home and Finance Ministries.

With Swapna Suresh reiterating Nandakumar’s claims, the ED registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) in the Lavalin case and recorded Nandakumar’s statement. Based on these, the agency summoned Sivasankar to appear before its Kochi office in connection with the Life Mission case, where he was interrogated and later arrested the same day. Vivek Kiran too was directed to appear before the same office, but he did not comply with the summons.

The ED’s procedure typically involves deciding whether to list an individual as an accused or a witness only after interrogation. In this instance, the investigation officer had specifically noted that Vivek Kiran’s personal appearance was ‘essential’. He, however, chose not to appear.

Lavalin case now before Supreme Court
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who was the eighth accused in the SNC-Lavalin case, along with two others, was acquitted by the Thiruvananthapuram CBI court in 2013 even before the trial commenced. The Kerala High Court upheld the acquittal in August 2017. The CBI’s appeal against this decision has been pending before the Supreme Court for several years.

Meanwhile, Pinarayi on Monday said he had no knowledge of any ED summons reportedly issued to his son, Vivek Kiran.

Vijayan said neither he nor his family has ever been involved in corruption, and they stand firmly for clean and transparent politics. “Everyone knows my political life. I am proud of my children. They will never do anything that would tarnish my name or reputation,” he said.