HOME   
   NEWS   
   BUSINESS   
   CRICKET   
   SPORTS   
   MOVIES   
   NET GUIDE   
   SHOPPING   
   BLOGS  
   ASTROLOGY  
   MATCHMAKER  


Search:



The Web

Rediff








News
Capital Buzz
Commentary
Dear Rediff
Diary
Elections
Interviews
Rediff Poll
Specials
Gallery
The States



Home > News > PTI

SC acquits former power minister of Kerala in graphite case

February 28, 2003 16:50 IST

The Supreme Court on Friday acquitted former Kerala Power Minister R Balakrishna Pillai and Kerala State Electricity Board chairman P Keshava Pillai in the graphite-electricity sale scandal in which both were convicted and sentenced to one-year imprisonment.

Setting aside the trial court order, which was also upheld by the high court, a Supreme Court bench comprising Justice R C Lahoti and Justice Brijesh Kumar, said neither the accused got any pecuniary benefit nor the KSEB suffered any loss due to supply of electricity to Karnataka-based Graphite Industries Ltd.

The prosecution had said that between October 1994 and August, 1995, when Balakrishna was the power minister, the KSEB had supplied 1,22,41,440 units of power to Graphite Industries Ltd at a cheaper price of 42 paise per unit resulting in pecuniary advantage of Rs 19.58 lakh to the Karnataka-based company.

The trial court had convicted both Balakrishna and Keshava and sentenced them to one-year imprisonment. It had also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each. The high court had upheld the trial court order and rejected their appeals.

Reversing the trial court order, the Supreme Court said the deal was between the electricity boards of Karnataka and Kerala and the minister and the chairman personally gained nothing from it and neither the board suffered any loss.



© Copyright 2003 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.






Article Tools

Email this Article

Printer-Friendly Format

Letter to the Editor



Related Stories


SC permits Hindujas to go abroad

SC rejects Chandraswamy's plea



People Who Read This Also Read


Anand Sharma on the Dhumal govt

Muslim Law Board slams PM

CBI files petition in Ayodhya case







HOME   
   NEWS   
   BUSINESS   
   CRICKET   
   SPORTS   
   MOVIES   
   NET GUIDE   
   SHOPPING   
   BLOGS  
   ASTROLOGY  
   MATCHMAKER  
Copyright © 2003 rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved.