Former Kerala minister gets one year rigorous imprisonment

Tiruvananthapuram, February 10, 2011PTI

The Supreme Court on Thursday awarded one year rigorous imprisonment to former Kerala Power Minister and Congress leader R. Balakrishnan Pillai and two others in the Idamalayar dam corruption case.



A bench of justices P. Sathasivam and B.S. Chauhan convicted the former minister while reversing the acquittal order passed by the Kerala High Court.



The apex court upheld the prosecution plea that the former minister has entered into a criminal conspiracy that caused a loss of over Rs 2 crore to the Kerala State Electricity Board by awarding contracts for construction of a power tunnel and surge shaft of the Idamalayar hydro electricity power project to contractor Paulose (now deceased) at extra ordinarily high rates.



The apex court, upholding the appeal filed by the then Leader of the Opposition and present Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, said the high court had committed a grave error by overlooking the clinching evidence marshalled by the prosecution and the conviction rightly awarded by the special court in Kerala.



The apex court also expressed concern that cases of corruption relating to political personalities have been dragging endlessly in the country and pointed that in the present case, though the scandal took place in 1982, the prosecution was launched only in 1991.



The bench said there was clinching evidence to prove Mr. Pillai's involvement in the award of the contract despite the fact that the electricity board was an independent body and was not under the control of the government to warrant his interference.



Pillai says he will face sentence, VS feels vindicated



In Tiruvananthapuram, Mr. Balakrishna Pillai, said he would surrender before the court on getting the summons.



Mr. Achuthanandan, who has spearheaded the legal battle against Mr. Pillai for two decades, said the apex court vindicated his stand and he saw it as a "warning to those who thrive by stealing public money." A visibly upset Mr. Pillai,76, replied in the negative when reporters asked if he had any plan to explore possibilities of filing a revision petition.



"I will surrender when I get the summons. This is the reward for serving the people all these years", Pillai, whose party is a constituent in the Congress—led UDF, said.



Reacting to the development, Mr. Achuthanandan said this was for the first time that a former minister from Kerala was being punished in a corruption case.



" I have to fight for over two decades for this. I had to face personal abuses and criticism for persistently pursuing the case. Now I feel vindicated", the CPI(M) statlwart said.



The 86—year—old CPI(M) stalwart has also been pursuing the palmolein case in which Central Vigilance Commissiner P.J. Thomas is an accused.



Asked about it, his information was that the stage was set for the trial of this case.


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