Kochi, Thursday 7 May 2009: The United Democratic Front (UDF) will observe a hartal from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday protesting the Kerala government’s decision to forward the Advocate-General’s advice against giving permission to prosecute Pinarayi Vijayan, State secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), in the SNC Lavalin case to the Governor.

Addressing the media here, UDF convener P.P. Thankachan said the front had called for a hartal only on one other occasion in the past three years, as it did not want to cause trouble to the public.

However, the hartal was being called on Thursday to reflect the public anger against the move to protect the CPI(M) and Pinarayi Vijayan, he said. Thankachan said a UDF meeting would be held at the Cantonment House, Thiruvananthapuram, on Friday. This meeting would finalise the protest measures to be adopted in future.

The third anniversary of the State government would be observed as ‘betrayal day.’ The UDF leaders would meet the Governor, if necessary, and urge him to use the discretionary power in proceeding with the SNC Lavalin case, Thankachan said.

He said the SNC Lavalin case was not a politically motivated case, as independent constitutional bodies such as the Comptroller and Auditor General, High Court and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had been probing the irregularities in awarding the contract.

The Advocate-General’s report said that he did not have access to “relevant documents” needed for forming a legal opinion about the case. That itself made the legal advice void. Also, the legal advice was given in a sealed cover to the Chief Minister to be discussed at the Cabinet meeting. However, this document was circulated at the CPI(M) secretariat meeting and discussed. This was then made freely available to the public, including the media, Thankachan said.

Steps should be taken to remove C.P. Sudhakara Prasad from the post of Advocate-General for failing to fulfil his official responsibilities.
The public would not be forced to keep off the road or close down shops on Thursday. Also festivals like the ones at Puthupally and Edathwa churches had been exempted from the hartal.