The Supreme Court on Thursday sentenced former Congress minister from Kerala R. Balakrishna Pillai and two others to one-year imprisonment for abusing their position in the award of contract for the Edamalayar hydroelectric power project.
They were sentenced under the Prevention of Corruption Act. An apex court bench of Justices P. Sathasivam and B.S. Chauhan reversed the Kerala high court judgment which acquitted all the three. Since the then Congress government in Kerala did not challenge the high court order,
Chief minister V.S. Achutanandan — who was then leader of the opposition — had moved the Supreme Court, challenging the verdict of acquittal. The apex court allowed Achuthanandan's appeal and also imposed a fine of Rs. 10,000 on each of the three convicts.