The Kerala High Court has acquitted five RSS/BJP workers who were arraigned as accused and convicted in the case relating to the attempt to murder CPI(M) leader P. Jayarajan at his Kathirur residence, near Thalassery, in August 1999.
Justice P. Somarajan passed the verdict recently while allowing the appeals filed by the five convicts — Para Sasi, Elamthottathil Manoj, Jayaprakasan, Kadichery Aji alias Ajith Kumar, Koyyom Manu alias Manoj, against the order of the Thalassery Sessions Court in 2007. The court also dismissed the appeal filed by the State government against the acquittal of three other accused — Kuniyil Shanoob, Kovveri Pramod and Thykandny Mohan. The fifth and eighth accused had passed away while the appeal was pending and nobody turned up to represent them.
The court, however, upheld the conviction of the second accused, Chirukandoth Prasanth, in the case. But the court reduced the ten-year rigorous imprisonment awarded to him to one year simple imprisonment, observing that the ten years imprisonment did not reflect the proper balance.
