Reversing the judgment of the Kerala High court, the Supreme Court today awarded one year rigorous imprisonment to former Kerala power Minister and congress leader R. Balakrishnan Pillai and two others in the Idamalayar dam corruption case.

A division bench consisting of Justices P.Sathasivam and BS Chauhan upheld the prosecution plea and convicted him for his involvement in corruption relating to the construction of dam.
The apex court upheld the prosecution argument that the Kerala Electricity Board suffered a loss of Rs.2 Cr as the contract for construction of a power tunnel and surge shaft of the Idamalayar hydro electricity power project was given to contractor Paulose (now deceased) at extra ordinary high rates.

The apex court of the country delivered the judgment  on an appeal filed by the then Leader of the Opposition and present Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan  and agreed with his view that the high court had committed a grave error by overlooking the clinching evidence presented by the  prosecution and the conviction awarded by the special court in Kerala.
The SC also expressed concern that the cases of corruption involving politicians have been dragging on for years together and said the scandal relating to the present case took place in 1982 while the prosecution was launched only in 1991.