The bail pleas of three accused in the Periya twin murder case were rejected by the CBI court on Tuesday.
K. Kamanees, the Special Judge for the CBI court, rejected the pleas of Pradeep, the 11th accused, A. Surendran, the 15th accused and Reji Varghese, the 17th accused in the case on the day.
Dismissing the plea, the court held that none of the petitioners could come up with any valid ground for releasing them on bail.
The prosecution case was that the accused, who were CPI(M) workers, conspired together and killed Kripesh and Sarat Lal, two youth Congress workers, on February 17, 2019, to retaliate against an earlier assault on Peethambaran, the first accused, and Surendran.
The accused argued that the prosecution story that they together hatched a criminal conspiracy in a bus stop which was an open public place, and that too, in broad daylight, cannot be believed for a moment. They contended that even by the prosecution case, the accused persons had other places in the vicinity which were exclusively in their private domain like the party office or other premises, where they could have met. They argued that the prosecution story shall not appeal to common sense and, in turn, should benefit the accused who were seeking bail.
However, opposing the bail plea, the prosecution argued that there was no change in circumstances in the case since the earlier rejection of their bail pleas. It was also argued that the accused were leaders/workers of the ruling party, who were very influential in their area. The release of the accused on bail will again create law-and- order problems in the area. The accused may try to threaten the witnesses through their political might and that will affect the outcome of the case, it was contended.
Dismissing the pleas, the court held that the bail application in a case where the earlier application was rejected was maintainable only when there was a change in the factual situation or in law which required the earlier view being interfered with or the earlier finding had become obsolete.
