Kerala - Kochi   

Former Vice-Chancellor acquitted

Special Correspondent

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Thursday acquitted R. Ramachandran Nair, former Chief Secretary and former Vice-Chancellor of the Sree Sankara University of Sanskrit, of the corruption charges in a case relating to the purchase of land for the university’s centre in Thiruvananthapuram.

Justice K. Thankappan acquitted him of the charges while allowing an appeal filed against the Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Court verdict sentencing him and P.N. Krishnan Pillai, secretary, Sree Vidhyathiraja Vidhya Samajam, Chettikulangara, Thiruvananthapuram, to two years and one year rigorous imprisonment respectively.

The prosecution case was that while functioning as Vice-Chancellor from March 31, 1993 to June 30, 1996, Mr. Ramachandran Nair had entered into a criminal conspiracy with the accused in 1994 and purchased the land belonging to the Samajam at a price higher than the then prevailing market price. The charge was that he had given the Samajam a pecuniary advantage by misusing his power.

The court said there was no evidence to show that the first accused (Mr. Ramachandran Nair) had purchased the property in violation of the rules of the university or in violation of the provisions of the Kerala Land Acquisition Act or any other rules. It could not be said that the first accused had committed an offence punishable under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The court said that the finding of the lower court that the accused had committed a criminal conspiracy was not based on any legally accepted evidence. The prosecution failed to prove that the land value of the locality during the relevant time was much less than what was offered by the university.

The prosecution failed to prove the case beyond any reasonable doubt.

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