TP murder: Kerala HC dismisses bail pleas of 3 CPI-M men

Kochi, Sep 19: The

has condemned the political killings in the state and stressed that no leniency should be shown to the culprits.

The court yesterday rejected the bail pleas of three CPI-M functionaries who are among the accused in the TP Chandrasekharan murder case. The founder of the Revolutionary Marxist Party was hacked to death at Onchiyam in Kozhikode district on May 4, 2012.

"In recent times, the annihilation of political rivals is on the rise. After a well-hatched conspiracy in such cases, people are hired to do away with political opponents. So the courts are called upon to be careful while considering the bail pleas of the accused in political murders. Such acts cannot be taken lightly," Justice Bhavadasan said.

The court was of the opinion that PK Kunhananthan who is a member of the CPI-M Panur area committee, P Mohanan of the party's Kozhikode district secretariat and Kunnummakkara local committee member KC Ramachandran might put pressure on the witnesses in the case after they are granted bail.

"Considering the nature of the allegations against the accused and the position they hold in the party, the possibility of using influence cannot be ruled out," the court observed.

According to Justice Bhavadasan, a fair trial in political murder cases is only possible if the witnesses feel that they will not be harmed on revealing the truth. Therefore the court said that protecting the interests of society is more important than personal liberty of the accused.

On their part, the three CPI-M men cited the amount of time they had already spent in custody. The petitioners pleaded for immediate release since the police have completed the investigation.

However, the prosecution pointed to the trio's role in the murder conspiracy and argued that ‘bail is the rule and that jail is the exception theory' is not applicable in this case.

OneIndia News