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Ex-minister Balakrishna Pillai arrested, freed on bail

Kerala Congress-B leader and former state minister R Balakrishna Pillai was arrested and released on bail late on Monday on the basis of a bailable warrant issued on August 14 by the high court in the graphite case.

According to the police, Pillai was arrested at his residence in Trivandrum by a circle inspector and released immediately on bonds of Rs 10,000 each executed by two persons as prescribed by a division bench of the court.

The court, while issuing the warrants against Pillai and former Kerala State Electricity Board chairman P Kesava Pillai, had asked them to appear in court on August 24.

The case pertained to the illegal sale of electricity to the Bangalore-based Graphite India Ltd, when Pillai was Kerala's power minister in 1984-85. The sale was done without the state government's prior sanction.

The special judge (graphite case), Trivandrum, had convicted and sentenced Balakrishna Pillai and Kesava Pillai to one year's imprisonment with a fine of Rs 10,000 each about a year ago.

When their appeal came up for hearing on August 14, counsel for the appellants refused to argue following rejection of the prayer for adjournment of the case on the grounds that a petition seeking to shift the case to the Karnataka high court was pending before the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected Pillai's petition for transfer of the case to the Karnataka high court.

Pillai is a member of the state legislative assembly and his party is a constituent of the opposition United Democratic Front.

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