Kerala ex-minister jailed for graft

Pillai, 76, and the first former minister to be jailed in a corruption case in Kerala, was accompanied by his actor-politician son K B Ganesh Kumar when he surrendered at the special court in Kochi in the morning.

He was brought to the Poojapura central prison later in the evening.
The court had rejected Pillai’s plea for “A” class jail treatment but directed that he be given medical facilities.

Besides Pillai, third accused P K Sajeev also surrendered on Friday and was sent to the jail. Second accused and former Kerala State Electricity Board chairperson Ramabhadran Nair, 81, could not be arrested as he is bedridden and suffering from dementia.

According to the prosecution, the accused conspired in awarding the contract for construction of tunnel and surge shaft of the Edamalayar hydel project in the 1980s, causing Rs 2 crore loss to the state exchequer.  Pillai had been waging a legal battle against his  war Pillai's imprisonment has given a political edge to the ruling LDF since it was Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan who petitioned the Supreme Court against the high court decision quashing his conviction by the trial court.

One of the leading lights of the UDF for a long time, Pillai's fortunes fell after he suffered a shock defeat in the last assembly elections in his own stronghold of Kottarakkara.