CHENNAI: Ramar Pillai, who created a sensation in 1996 with claims of having invented a method to make petrol from herbs, was sentenced for three years rigorous imprisonment by a CBI special court today.
The additional chief metropolitan magistrate of Egmore accepted the prosecution's case that Pillai cheated the public to the tune of Rs 2.27 crore by selling them a mixture of toluene and naphtha and passing it off as ‘herbal petrol’.
Convicted along with Ramar Pillai were his relatives and associates R Venudevi, S Chinnasamy, R Rasegaran, and S K Bharat who collaborated with him in marketing what they branded as Ramar Petrol or Ramar Tamildei Mooligai Eriporul.
The five persons have also been fined Rs 6,000 each.
The mixture of petroleum products that Ramar Pillai passed off as herbal petrol is prohibited under Clause 3 (V) of the Motor spirit Speed Diesel (Regulation of Supply and Distribution and Prevention of Malpractices) Order, 1988.
CBI argued that Ramar Pillai sold the ‘herbal fuel’ to various sales outlets after collecting from them huge amounts as deposits and costs.
After his arrest in 2000, Ramar Pillai resurfaced 10 years later and held a press conference in Chennai under a new name, Ponnupillai Ramar but again hawking a fuel. This time the mix was different but the claim was the same, that he could make a fuel that cost no more than Rs 5 per litre.
But there were few takers this time, a radical departure from his earlier avatar when his scam suckered top ministers, scientists and bureaucrats alike.