Pillai deserves a bit of mercy: Ganesh

KOCHI: Given his frail health and old age, former minister and Kerala Congress (B) leader Balakrishna Pillai deserves a bit of mercy, said Forest and Sports Minister K B Ganeshkumar here on Friday. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the state inter-club athletics championship, Pillai’s son Ganeshkumar said, ‘’I have nothing to say as a minister.“But as a son, I believe my father deserves mercy given his age and ill-health.’’ The minister’s remarks come amidst a move by the UDF Government to release prisoners above the age of 75 before the expiry of their jail terms.Pillai has been serving a prison term in the Central Jail in Thiruvananthapuram on charges of corruption in the Idamalayar case.Queried on Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan’s demand not to release Pillai, the minister said Achuthanandan was entitled to give his own opinion.