Senior Congressman and former Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala has welcomed the decision of the Kerala High Court which rejected the petition of six LDF MLAs that the case over the fracas in the Assembly in 2015 be stayed.
The CPI(M)-led government has been conspiring with the said MLAs, who are the accused in the case, to withdraw the case in total violation of the law, said Mr. Chennithala on Friday. The High Court decision is a major blow to the government as well as the accused, he added.
Mr. Chennithala said he had been relentlessly fighting, right from the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court to the Supreme Court, to thwart all attempts of the government and the accused to get the courts to drop the case. The High Court judgment has come as a vindication of his efforts, he said.
The court decision is also a body blow to the Left government which had made underhand attempts to thwart the case, said Mr. Chennithala.
Earlier, when the case reached the Supreme Court, it had come down heavily on the government and pointedly asked what public interest was being served by the government’s attempts to withdraw prosecution against the six Left MLAs.
Despite the stand taken by the apex court, why the accused approached the High Court is beyond comprehension, said Mr. Chennithala.
He pointed out that this was a case where public servants themselves were involved in mindless destruction of public property. Yet, unfortunately, the government was defending the accused and this cannot be accepted.
The visuals of the fracas inside the Assembly and the vandalism by the Left MLAs had been telecast worldwide and hence the involvement of the six MLAs cannot be denied, he said.
It is disgraceful that the government, which has the responsibility to uphold the Constitution and implement the rule of law, was conniving to upset these values, added Mr. Chennithala.
