Former Kerala chief secy gets two-year RI

KOZHIKODE: Former Kerala chief secretary R Ramachandran Nair was on Friday awarded two years' rigorous imprisonment by a court here that held him guilty of committing serious financial irregularities in a land purchase deal in 1995-96.

Vigilance Court Judge MP Badhran also slapped a fine of Rs2 lakh on the 67-year-old former bureaucrat, who will face another year's rigorous imprisonment if he fails to pay it.

The 1961 batch IAS officer was given a month to appeal against the verdict.

According to the prosecution, Nair, while holding additional charge as Vice-Chancellor of the Kaladi Sri Sankara Sanskrit University in 1995, entered into an agreement for Rs35.88 lakh on behalf of the government for purchasing 13 acres for starting a regional centre of the varsity at Elapulli in Palakkad. He paid an advance of Rs27 lakh.

However, Palakkad Crime Branch SP MP Dinesh probed the matter in 1996 after suspecting financial irregularities in the deal. Dinesh found that the deal caused severe financial loss to the government.

It was also found that there was no formal proposal on behalf of the government to start such a regional centre.