A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on February 19 (Monday) confirmed the sentence of life imprisonment awarded to the convicts in a case relating to the murder of Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader T.P. Chandrasekharan at Onchiyam in 2012.
The Bench comprising Justice A. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Kauser Edappagath passed the verdict while upholding the Kozhikode Additional Sessions Court’s order awarding life imprisonment to accused M. C. Anoop, Manoj Kumar, alias Kirmani Manoj, N. K. Sunil Kumar, alias Kodi Suni, Rajeesh Thundikandi, K.K. Mohammed Shafi, Sijith, alias Annan Sijith, K. Shinoj, K.C. Ramachandran (then CPI(M) Kunnummakkara local committee member), Manojan, alias Trouser Manojan (former CPI(M) Kadungapoyil branch secretary), and the late P. K. Kunhanandan (former CPI(M) Panoor area committee member).
The Bench also set aside the acquittal of 10th accused K.K. Krishnan (former CPI(M) area committee member, Onchiyam) and the 12th accused Geothi Babu and convicted them under Section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The Kozhikode Additional Sessions Court had acquitted 24 accused, including CPI (M) leaders P. Mohanan, and K.K. Krishnan, in the case.
Plea to enhance punishment
The High Court also ordered the jail authorities to produce all the convicted before it on February 26, 2024 to hear them out on the plea for enhancing their punishment awarded by the sessions court. The court also ordered the production of the two accused who were convicted by the High Court on February 26 as well.
The court passed the order while dismissing the appeals filed by the convicted persons against the sessions court order. According to the appeals by the convicted, the case had been falsely foisted on them and they were convicted on the basis of false evidence and false witness statements. They alleged that the investigation team headed by an Additional DGP of the Crime Branch had probed the case in a premeditated manner and created false evidence.
The Kozhikode Additional Sessions Court had in 2014 sentenced 11 accused to life imprisonment and awarded three years’ jail term to another accused, Lambu Pradeep. The convicted included CPI(M) local leaders K.C. Ramachandran and the late Kunhanandan. They were found guilty under IPC Sections 302 (murder), 143 (unlawful assembly), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon) and 149 (unlawful assembly).
Ramachandran (eighth accused), Manojan (11th accused), and Kunhanandan (13th accused) were found guilty under IPC Section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 302 (murder) and were awarded life imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh each.
The State sought to enhance the life sentence awarded to them. The appeals filed by the prosecution and K.K. Rema, MLA, the wife of the slain RMP leader, sought to award maximum punishment to the convicts and pleaded for quashing the acquittal of other accused.
Prosecution contention
The prosecution contended that the trial court failed to appreciate the evidence in its true perspective while awarding sentences to the accused. The court did not appreciate the fact that the gruesome murder was a pre-planned, cold-blooded, and dastardly one and therefore, the sentence awarded to them should be enhanced.
Ms. Rema also challenged the acquittal of CPI(M) leaders P. Mohanan and K. K. Krishnan and 22 other accused in the case. She stated that the accused persons committed the murder in a pre-planned and brutal manner by engaging professional criminals and after making several attempts. Therefore, the trial court ought to have given them maximum punishment, including capital punishment and also awarded heavy compensation.
T.P. Chandrasekharan (52), founder of RMP, was hacked to death by a gang on May 4, 2012 while he was returning home on his bike. The then United Democratic Front (UDF) government in Kerala constituted a special investigation team to probe the case.
