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Court grants bail to CPI(M) leader in ADM suicide case
Kerala court granted conditional bail to PP Divya, CPI(M) leader and former Kannur district panchayat president, in the case of abetting the suicide of additional district magistrate (ADM) Naveen Babu
A Kerala court on Friday granted conditional bail to PP Divya, CPI(M) leader and former Kannur district panchayat president, in the case of abetting the suicide of additional district magistrate (ADM) Naveen Babu.
Divya, who was in judicial remand for the past 11 days, walked out of the Pallikunnu Women’s Jail on Friday, hours after the Thalassery sessions court approved her request for bail.
The 40-year-old CPI(M) leader was accused of abetting the suicide of Babu, a revenue officer, by accusing him of corruption and bribery publicly during a farewell ceremony hosted in his honour in Kannur on October 14.
She hinted that the ADM delayed giving a no-objection certificate for a fuel station and later took a bribe from its owner. The next day, Babu, who had received a transfer to his home district of Pathanamthitta, was instead found dead at his government quarters in Kannur.
Sessions judge KT Nisar Ahammed relied on the statement of the accused’s counsel that her father was suffering from tuberculosis and heart disease. The counsel also argued that her comments at the farewell function were “bonafide and based on true facts”.
In his order, the sessions judge noted that anticipatory bail is an exception, but “in the case of regular bail, bail is the rule and jail is an exception”.
“I am of the opinion that the prosecution could not bring this case to the exception of withholding bail and to keep the petitioner in jail. I am of the opinion that further incarceration of the petitioner is not required in this case and she can be granted bail, but of course with strict conditions,” the judge said.
The court ordered the CPI(M) leader to appear before the investigating officer every week, not leave the district without the permission of the court, not influence or contact witnesses in the case and not involve in any other crimes.
At the same time, the court underlined that there is a prima facie case against Divya under section 108 of the BNS. It said that even if the deceased was a corrupt person, the accused cannot justify her speech at the farewell function, that too uninvited, and arranging a videographer of a local television channel on her own. The court said the accused opted to “defame or insult” the deceased instead of approaching law enforcement agencies.
The bail to Divya came a day after her party removed her from all posts and downgraded her from district committee to branch committee, the lowest tier of the hierarchy.
On Friday, after her release from jail, Divya in her first remarks to the media since the ADM’s suicide, reiterated that her remarks at the farewell function in October were made with “right intentions” and “never aimed at pushing the officer to take his own life”.
“I believe in law and justice. I will tell my part of the story in court. Just like the family of Naveen Babu, I too want a fair and proper investigation. I hope that the court will grant me an opportunity to prove my innocence,” she said.
