Killing of political rivals condemnable: Kerala HC

Kochi: By no stretch of imagination can the killing of political rivals by hiring contract killers be taken lightly, and such instances need to be strongly condemned and deprecated, observed the Kerala High Court on Tuesday. “In recent times, the annihilation of political rivals is on the rise. After a well-hatched conspiracy in such cases, people are hired to do away with political opponents. So the courts are called upon to be careful while considering the bail pleas of the accused in political murders. Such acts cannot be taken lightly,” the court held.

Justice P Bhavadasan made the observation while dismissing the bail plea of CPM Panur area committee member P K Kunhananthan, Kozhikode district secretariat member P Mohanan and Kunnummakkara local committee member K C Ramachandran who are the accused in the T P murder case. The petitioners have been in custody for some time, but it was not a ground to release them on bail, the court said.

“Considering the nature of the allegations against the accused and the position they hold in the party, the possibility of using influence cannot be ruled out,” it said, adding that in political murder cases, obviously the need for a fair trial where witnesses feel free to reveal the truth has to be ensured. Such consideration, along with the protection of the interests of society, override the consideration of personal liberty. The petitioners pointed out that they have been in custody for a long time and that the investigation has been completed. So their continued detention would amount to serving the sentence without a trial, they submitted.

Director-General of Prosecution T Asaf Ali submitted that there was strong evidence against the accused to show that they were the masterminds who had designed, plotted and meticulously carried out the execution of T P. He also contended that ‘bail is the rule and that jail is the exception theory’ cannot be exercised indiscriminately.

The court pointed out that on an earlier occasion, it had found that the petitioners were not entitled to bail. No change of circumstances was pointed out to take a different view. The court observed that the trial in the case could be expedited since the final report had already been filed. The court said that it was significant to note that they were attributed mainly to the offence of conspiracy.