The withdrawal of senior High Court lawyer K.P. Satheesan from conducting the Madhu lynching case as Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) in the High Court has given a fillip to the allegations raised by Madhu’s family that the government was trying to help the convicts who had approached the High Court with an appeal.
Madhu’s mother Malli had written to the High Court Chief Justice against the appointment of Mr. Satheesan as the SPP. She claimed that she had no trust in Mr. Satheesan and that the government had made his appointment unilaterally by ignoring her requests to post the lawyers of her choice as prosecutors to handle the case in the High Court.
Mr. Satheesan’s recusal amid mounting opposition from Madhu’s family as well as the action forum that conducts the case has strengthened the hopes of Ms. Malli that the convicts would not walk away from the appeal court with a reduced punishment.
The Special Court for SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act at Mannarkkad, which tried the case, had found 14 of the 16 accused guilty, and awarded seven years of rigorous imprisonment to 13 of them under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code and the SC-ST Act.
Three government-appointed SPPs had recused themselves when the case came up for hearing at the Mannarkkad court, not only causing a delay, but also raising serious concerns about the influence being wielded by those involved in the case.
Amid concerns of hostility raised by two dozen witnesses, it was SPP Rajesh M. Menon who took the case to a conclusion by winning the confidence of Madhu’s family as well as the people at large who kept a tab on the developments ever since Madhu, a tribal youth from Attappady, was lynched by a gang on February 22, 2018.
Although the government kept on saying that it would stand with Madhu’s family to ensure justice for the lynched tribal youth, the government’s rejection of Ms. Malli’s demand to appoint Mr. Menon as the SPP in the High Court had raised doubts about its intentions.
“If the government is sincere, it should appoint the lawyers we suggested to handle the case in the High Court. We do not want to see that those involved in the murder of my son get off scot-free from the High Court,” said Ms. Malli.
