The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition in Kerala has sought to politically weaponise the High Court order upholding the conviction of the 12 persons accused in the 2012 murder of CPI(M) dissident and Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) founder T.P. Chandrasekharan at Onchiyam in Kozhikode to put the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government and the ruling party on the defensive.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said the High Court had reasserted the “complicity” of the CPI(M)‘s top leadership in the heinous political murder that shocked Kerala’s conscience.
For one, Mr. Satheesan said, the High Court had nullified the trial court’s acquittal of two CPI(M) apparatchiks charged in the crime.
He said the UDF was determined to stay the course till the top conspirators who plotted and sanctioned Chandrasekharan’s murder were brought to book.
He said the UDF would extend unflinching legal, moral and political support to RMP leader and legislator K.K. Rema’s spirited pursuit of justice for her murdered husband.
Mr. Satheesan said the UDF would challenge the High Court’s order upholding the trial court acquittal of CPI(M) Kozhikode district secretary K. Mohanan in the case.
He said the High Court order was an oblique censure of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s repeated attempts to subvert the law by cushioning the prison time of the convicts through cyclical paroles and access to digital devices, including mobile phones.
Ms. Rema said the fight for justice was far from over and would only end with the conviction of top CPI(M) leaders who “authorised” Chandrasekharan’s murder to silence his strident criticism of the party leadership’s anti-working class line.
Ms. Rema said the RMP would “move the court” against the High Court’s decision to uphold Mr. Mohanan’s acquittal.
Congress leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, who was the Home Minister at the time, told reporters in Kottayam that the High Court order vindicated the UDF government’s “even-handed and professional” handling of the case.
He said the investigation under the UDF government was foolproof. The prosecution could obtain a trial court conviction despite witnesses turning hostile. The government successfully shielded law enforcement from intense extraneous pressures.
CPI(M) denies role in murder
CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan told reporters in Alappuzha that the High Court decision upholding Mr. Mohanan’s acquittal validated the party’s stance that it had no role in the murder.
He welcomed the verdict and said the High Court had put paid to a two-decade-long attempt to implicate senior CPI(M) leaders in the case.
Mr. Govindan said the police under the UDF regime had treated Mr. Mohanan as they would an armed and absconding dacoit.
Mr. Govindan accused the UDF of politicising the crime to vilify the CPI(M). He said the party would defeat such attempts.
