Chandrasekharan murder case: Kerala HC upholds conviction of 12 accused
The Kerala high court on Monday upheld the conviction of 12 accused, including local Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders, and set aside the acquittal of two others by a trial court in the case of the murder of TP Chandrasekharan in May 2012
The Kerala high court on Monday upheld the conviction of 12 accused, including local Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders, and set aside the acquittal of two others by a trial court in the case of the murder of TP Chandrasekharan, founder of Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP), by a group of assailants in May 2012.
The acquittal of the remaining accused by the trial court in Vadakara was confirmed by the high court as well.
Of the 12 accused convicted by the trial court, 11 were handed down life sentences and one given a three-year jail term.
The bench of justice AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and justice Kauser Edappagath ruled, “We confirm the judgment of the trial court and sustain the conviction of A1 to A8, A11 and A13 (A1 - Anoop, A2 - Kirmani Manoj, A3 - Kodi Suni, A4 - TK Rajeesh, A5 - KK Muhammad Shafi, A6 - S Sijith, A7 - K Shinoj, A8 - KC Ramachandran, A11 - Manojan and A13 - Kunhanandan) in respect of the charges proved against them. We note that A13 expired during the pendency of these appeals and his legal representative was impleaded.”
“Additionally, we convict A1 to A5 and A7 under Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well. We set aside the acquittal of A10 (KK Krishnan) and A12 (Geothi Babu) and convict them under section 120B read with 302 of the IPC. We confirm the acquittal of the other accused,” the court ruled.
Significantly, the high court did not set aside the acquittal by trial court of P Mohanan, one of the accused in the case and currently the CPI(M) district secretary in Kozhikode.
The convicts were ordered to be produced before the court on Feb 26 for the hearing on plea of enhancement of sentence and compensation.
Chandrasekharan, who was once an influential local leader of the CPI(M) in Vatakara in Kozhikode district, fell out with the party in 2008 and formed a new outfit called RMP which posed a challenge to his former party particularly in areas around Onchiyam.
This was reflected in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections when the CPI(M) lost to the Congress in Vatakara, a constituency which was considered its stronghold, when Chandrasekharan contested as an Independent and got over 21,000 votes.
This reportedly irked the local CPM leadership who held a grudge against him, people aware of the matter said.
On the night of May 4, 2012, a gang of assailants in an Innova car rammed into the bike driven by Chandrasekharan. After he fell on the road, they hacked him to death with swords. One of the assailants used a country bomb to create an explosion to prevent witnesses from approaching the scene. The wounds and injuries inflicted on him were so brutal that the doctor who conducted the autopsy opined that it was indicative of the aggressive and hostile nature of the assailants.
KK Rema, Chandrasekharan’s widow and the RMP MLA from Vadakara Assembly segment, welcomed the high court ruling. “We have always said that the culprit in the case is the CPI(M). The party’s involvement has been proved again. KK Krishnan whose acquittal has been nullified was the area committee member of the CPM at the time. The involvement of the party leadership is coming to the fore. We will go to the Supreme Court to challenge the acquittal of P Mohanan,” she told reporters.
At the same time, CPM state secretary MV Govindan claimed that the party has no role in the murder. “We welcome the court ruling but we said it then also that the party has no involvement in it. Party leaders were falsely accused of crimes and locked away in jails for years. The murder was given political colour by the UDF,” he said.