TN Minister sentenced to three-year jail term resigns

Chennai, Jan 7 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development P. Balakrishna Reddy, who was on Monday sentenced to three years' imprisonment by a special court here for damaging buses with stones in 1998, resigned from his post later in the day. The court hearing the cases against MPs and MLAs also fined him Rs 10,000. The court convicted 16 persons out of 108 accused. Elected from Hosur, Reddy was part of a protest against illict liquor in 1998 near his constituency. The protest turned violent resulting in stone pelting on buses. Meanwhile, on a petition, the judge suspended the sentence allowing Reddy to appeal in the Madras High Court. Following the verdict, Reddy resigned from his post and the same was accepted by Governor Banwarilal Purohit. In a statement issued by the Governor's office, Purohit on the recommendation of Chief Minister K. Palaniswami has allocated the portfolio of Youth Welfare and Sports Development to K.A. Sengottaiyan, Minister for Education and redesignated him as Minister for School Education, Youth Welfare and Sports Development.
--IANS vj/nir