Balakrishna Pillai of the ruling UDF in Kerala is supposedly serving a one-year rigorous imprisonment sentence for corruption. Yet, he gets home food, an air-cooler in his cell and has been out of jail for 53 of the 144 days served. And now the government plans to set him free

He gets home food, an air-cooler in his cell and has been out of jail for 53 of the 144 days served. And now the government plans to set him free

If Suresh Kalmadi, Kanimozhi and A Raja want lessons on a good life in pris­on, they must look at R Balakrishna Pillai, former minister and prominent United Democratic Front (UDF) lead­er in Kerala. He is in jail in the state for the same crime—corruption—but with a few differences. As against Kalmadi & Co, who are undertrials, Pillai has in fact been convicted and sentenced to one year’s imprisonment. He went to jail in February, but in the less than five months since, has been out on parole four times. Altogether he has spent more than 53 days outside as a free man out of the 144 days (when this story went to print) of supposed imprisonment.

The latest parole release for Pillai came on 5 July, giving him 30 days of freedom. The Congress-led UDF is considering a premature release for Pillai, using provi­sions in the law that give the government an absolute mandate to do so. He is 76 and his old age is being cited as the reason. If everything goes according to plan, Pillai will return to jail for a last time after his present parole gets over, and then be re­leased for good.

Pillai’s conviction was the result of a long legal battle waged by former Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan. It dates back to 1982, when Pillai was in the UDF cabinet. As minister for power, he had awarded contracts for construction of a power tunnel and surge shaft in the Idamalayar hydroelectric project at ex­traordinarily high rates. It led to a reve­nue loss of Rs 2 crore to the Kerala State Electricity Board. The Kerala High Court acquitted Pillai and two others, but Achuthanandan then took the case to the Supreme Court, which sentenced Pillai to one year’s rigorous imprisonment on 10 February 2011.

Pillai gave himself up on 19 February, and walked into the Poojappura central jail in Thiruvananthapuram cursing Achuthanandan in public.

Pillai’s party, Kerala Congress (B), has been a key constituent of the UDF. He started his political career with the Congress at the age of 25 and was elected to the Assembly from Pathanapuram constituency in Kollam district in 1960. In 1964, he left the Congress.

He has a considerable following among the Nairs of Travancore and is one of the UDF’s founder members. He is usu­ally a key organiser of UDF election cam­paigns, but this time round, he spent it in a prison cell reading newspapers.

Before the polls, which saw the UDF government come to power with a wafer-thin majority, Pillai had tried to get pa­role, but it was denied.

Soon after the polls, he was released on ‘emergency parole’ to nurse his sick wife. Thus on 20 April, after 60 days of prison life, he emerged from prison in full media glare, fulminated against Achuthanandan (who was still Chief Minister since the results had yet to be announced) for not providing him ade­quate facilities in jail, commented on the polls, and had a traditional feast at home with his ‘sick wife’ in the presence of

television cameras. He was served a no­tice by the additional DGP of jail admin­istration for violating parole conditions by talking to the media. He had been granted 10 days of parole but extended it by 12 more days.

After the 22 days were over, Pillai went back to prison on 11 May, to come out again in a week for another 10 days of pa­role. And this time he refused to accept conditional parole, which would bar him from public speaking. The UDF govern­ment obliged, and granted uncondition­al parole. On the morning of 19 May, Pillai came out of Poojappura central jail, stepped into his BMW, went home, met UDF leaders, visited the Nair Service Society headquarters, held discussions with NSS leaders and offered floral trib­utes at the samadhi of Mannathu Padmanabhan, a prominent leader of the Nair community. This time too, while his parole was for 10 days, he spent 23 days outside by getting an extension.

The maximum number of days of eligible parole is 45 for a prisoner convicted to one year of imprisonment. It was already over by the time Pillai went back to jail on 12 June. But it didn’t matter. He got ‘emergency parole’ once again for 30 days and came out on 5 July. Meanwhile, perhaps tired of being in and out, Pillai submitted a request to be set free on grounds of his health and old age. The UDF government promptly responded, and asked Alexander Jacob, the ADGP of jail administration, to submit a report.

The ADGP’s report had a few surprises of its own. He recommended the release of 27 prisoners—nine prisoners above 75 and 18 who were critically ill—besides Pillai. The report suggests: ‘If the request of Balakrishna Pillai is ordered before considering these cases, it will be unjust and arbitrary and likely to be hit in a judicial review.’ The report has been sent to the advocate general for further advice. The advocate general has forwarded it to the director general of prosecutions, who is likely to take a decision in Pillai’s favour. Sources close to the Chief Minister’s office also say that the government will push for Pillai’s release. There is relentless pressure on the Chief Minister from many quarters, including the Nair Service Society and other ministers who are facing criminal charges for various reasons.

Pillai’s premature release will be a real floor test for the state government, which is running on a slender majority with a powerful opposition to contend with. Ironically, the UDF government launched an anti-corruption drive after coming to power. The Idamalayar case, its trial, Pillai’s conviction and his prison life are already a landmark in Kerala’s political and legal history. The case diary, which runs into 85,000 pages, is the largest in the state’s legal history. No prisoner has ever got 45 days of parole in four instalments at such frequent intervals.

Although the Supreme Court had convicted Pillai to rigorous imprisonment, there was nothing rigorous about the sentence he served. He was permitted food from home, and was provided with a coat, bed, mosquito repellent, even an air cooler. Section 756 of the Kerala Prison Rules specifically bars ‘A Class’ facilities (special food and amenities, jail uniform not compulsory, etcetera) to those convicted for corruption. In Pillai’s case, the government invoked loopholes in the law, which suggests it can consider granting ‘A Class’ treatment in special circumstances. Pillai’s stay in jail was made as comfortable as possible. Says an officer in charge of the central prison in Thiruvananthapuram: “Pillai has pioneered many undesirable practices in the history of law and order.”

In jail, Pillai was given the job of being assistant to the welfare officer on a remuneration of Rs 30 per day. He refused and publicly stated that he was neither going to do the job nor did he want any remuneration. People who undertake such jobs can get four days worth of remission for every month of their sentence. Pillai has availed of the remission anyway.

The government does have arbitrary powers to release a prisoner under certain provisions in the law. Section 432 of the Code of Criminal Procedure gives an absolute mandate to governments to release prisoners. The early release of Pillai has been recommended under this provision. But it would be difficult for the government to explain the rationale. There are 150 applications for premature release pending for long before the Jail Advisory Board of Kerala. How the government plans to justify Pillai’s release ahead of these 150 prisoners is not known. Also, Pillai exhausted his quota of the maximum number of days of eligible parole when he took the 30 additional days, and this was done on condition that the period of imprisonment would be extended accordingly. How will that be possible if he is granted a premature release? Again, a prisoner who has taken emergency parole is permitted regular parole only after a period of six months, according to a circular implemented by the previous government. This has also been flouted in Pillai’s case. Above all, the absolute mandate a government has to release a prisoner on grounds of old age is highly questionable. “If this is the case, those who have crossed 75 should not hold public office since they could never be convicted for corruption. Not even those who are 70, as the trial would take a minimum of five years,” says V Santhakumar, political observer and fellow at the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram.

“The Supreme Court has reduced the period of imprisonment to one year considering his old age. This is clearly stated in the judgment. How can a person get the benefit of old age twice?” asks VS Sunil Kumar, a CPI legislator. Says a senior Kerala High Court lawyer, “There are eight cases under trial in the High Court in which the accused are above 75. What is the point of arguing these cases if they are not going to get prison? Why waste time and energy on them?”

There is also the fact that KB Ganesh Kumar, Pillai’s son, is the state forest minister and part of the cabinet that will take the decision on releasing him—an obvious ‘conflict of interest’. As a workaround, the government is considering the technical loophole of asking Ganesh to stay away from the cabinet meeting that will take this decision.

The government’s attempt to ensure Pillai’s release by setting free all prisoners above 75 brings another twist to the story. Among the prisoners eligible for release, there is also former DIG R Lakshmana. In 1977, during the Emergency, he had ordered the killing of a Naxalite named Varghese. Two decades later, a constable called Ramachandran Nair confessed that he had been forced to obey orders to shoot Varghese at close range. It led to the reopening of the case, and the Kerala High Court sentenced the DIG to life imprisonment last year. He has 12 more years to complete his jail term. Varghese has become a cult figure in Kerala and there are films, poems and monographs on his life and death. The High Court ruling holding the former DIG guilty was a sensational episode in the state’s contemporary political and legal history. Releasing Lakshmana along with Pillai will be another storm for the UDF government to weather.