2015 Kerala assembly violence: Vijayan defends minister amid row

Thiruvananthapuram: The Opposition Congress -led UDF stormed out of the Kerala assembly on Thursday after chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan rejected their demand seeking resignation of education minister V Sivankutty, an accused in the 2015 assembly violence case

Thiruvananthapuram: The Opposition Congress -led UDF stormed out of the Kerala assembly on Thursday after chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan rejected their demand seeking resignation of education minister V Sivankutty, an accused in the 2015 assembly violence case.

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An adjournment motion was introduced in the House by Congress member P T Thomas who said it was highly immoral and unjust to allow the minister to continue in the assembly. Though the minister was absent in the house raising speculations the CM later ruled out his resignation “What message you will be giving to students if you continue to allow him in the education ministry. It is a disgrace for a state like Kerala,” said opposition leader V D Satheesan asking the CM to drop him immediately.

The chief minister, however, said the court did not get into the merit of the case and it has not taken any specific name. He said all accused legislators were punished by the Speaker after the incident and they were undergoing second punishment.

“I feel what happened in the assembly should have been ended there,” he said amid protest from Opposition members who said he was casting aspersions on the judgment of the highest court. He also read out the list of earlier incidents in different Houses to buttress his point. He said in 1997 many ambulances were needed to rush the injured legislators to hospital after violence unfolded in the Uttar Pradesh assembly.

But senior legislator Thomas, who introduced an adjournment motion, reminded the CM that a legislator enjoys certain privileges if he speaks and behaves as part of the House proceedings and destroying public property was not part of his privilege. After the CM’s explanation, Speaker M B Rajesh denied permission to the motion and Opposition members stormed out of the house. They later said they will continue to boycott the minister. Many youth outfits also took to the street seeking his exit while a rally of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) outside the assembly turned violent.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the state government’s plea to withdraw the case and asked all six accused including the minister to face criminal proceedings for destroying the house property during a ruckus in 2015. “Privileges and immunities are not gateway to claim exemption from the general law of the land, particularly as in this case the criminal law which governs the action of every citizen,” a bench of justices DY Chandrachud and M R Shah said while rejecting the government’s plea.

The assembly witnessed violent incidents in March 2015 after the Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) legislators tried to prevent then finance minister KM Mani from presenting the budget alleging his role in the bar bribery case. Angry members snapped mikes, threw chairs, destroyed furniture and damaged lights in the melee, which also resulted in two legislators landing up in hospital. The session was live when the violence took place and property worth ₹2.20 lakh was destroyed in the melee.

After coming to power in 2016, the government tried to withdraw the case, only for a local court to reject it. The Pinarayi Vijayan government then moved the high court, which also turned down its plea. The government also invoked the privilege of legislators and public interest to justify its decision to withdraw the case, but the high court rejected it saying privilege was not a licence to unleash violence in the House.