Thaindian News

New Delhi, Nov 11 (IANS) The Supreme Court will hear on Dec 9 a petition by former Kerala chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan challenging the release of former minister R. Balakrishna Pillai, jailed for corruption, after remission of his sentence on Nov 1 - the state’s reorganisation day.

A bench of Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice Jasti Chelameswar said the matter will be taken up for hearing on Dec 9.

Achuthanandan’s petition challenging the grant of remission to Pillai along with other accused on the occasion of state reorganization day was mentioned before the court by senior counsel Gopal Subramaniam.

When Subramaniam pressed for the hearing, the court said that the matter would be heard by the bench of Justice Sathasivam and Justice B.S. Chauhan who had sentenced Pillai to one-year’s rigorous imprisonment Feb 10, 2011.

“Right or wrong, he has been released. There is no urgency,” Justice Sathasivam said when Subramaniam told the court that there has to be some explanation why was it necessary to grant Pillai remission.

When senior counsel K.T.S. Tulsi appearing for law student Mahesh Mohan made a submission, the court said: “We are not expressing anything now. Everything will be considered.”

Pillai was sentenced to one year rigorous imprisonment under the Prevention of Corruption Act in the Idamalayar case.

As the then state electricity minister, Pillai was accused of conniving with officials of State Electricity Board in awarding works relating to Idamalayar Hydroelectric Power Project in favour of his close associates at exorbitant rates, with heavy financial implications to the exchequer.

Accused of entering into a criminal conspiracy with the contractors to make illegal gains, he was awarded four years imprisonment by the trial court but was acquitted by the Kerala High Court.

In his petition, Achuthanandan contended that right from the time he was asked to undergo one year jail, Pillai has been out of the jail on one pretext or the other.

The petition said that Pillai continued to use his personal mobile phone in jail, which was not only against the rules but an offence, and “had been in constant touch with the chief minister and other cabinet ministers and bureaucrats”.

“In fact, a TV channel had collected the call list of Pillai and found that he had been calling UDF (United Democratic Front) leaders and bureaucrats while he was in prison and in hospital,” the petition said.

The petition said that Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy did not deny the phone calls made by Pillai to his office when this matter was raised in the assembly.