Kozhikode (Kerala) | A court here on Saturday sentenced a former overseer of the Kerala State Electricity Board to three years of rigorous imprisonment in a bribery case.

Kozhikode Vigilance Court judge Shibu Thomas sentenced Michael Pillai (60), a native of Neyyattinkara in Thiruvananthapuram and former overseer at the KSEB's Kuttippuram section office in Malappuram, to three years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 60,000.

According to the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB), the accused had in 2020 demanded and accepted a bribe of Rs 700 from a complainant to avoid levying a higher electricity tariff for power used in connection with the renovation of his house at Kuttippuram.

The complainant had approached the KSEB office after completing the construction work to pay the applicable electricity charges.

The accused allegedly told him that the actual charge payable was Rs 1,560, but offered to settle the matter in return for a bribe of Rs 700, officials said.

He was caught red-handed by the Malappuram Vigilance Unit while accepting the bribe amount from the complainant, they said.

The case was investigated by former Malappuram VACB DySP A Ramachandran.

Public Prosecutor Arun Nath K K appeared for the prosecution.