In a setback to Kerala’s Congress-led UDF Government, the High Court on Monday dismissed its petition seeking permission to hold a follow-up probe into the murder of a Congress leader in Idukki district ten years ago. The Government had wanted the probe to be held on the basis of some ‘disclosures’ made by a top CPI(M) leader in a speech in 2012.
The High Court dismissed the Government’s petition seeking permission to reinvestigate the killing of former Vandiperiyar Panchayat president and INTUC leader Balu by pointing out that no fresh evidences had been available and that it was meaningless to launch such a probe when there was no clear information about the accused.
State Director General of Prosecutions T Asif Ali had in the petition sought permission to re-probe the death of Balu on the basis of the “disclosure” made by CPI(M)’s Idukki district secretary MM Mani in a speech in which he said his party used to annihilate its enemies in the plantation sector of Idukki district on the basis of prepared hit-lists.
A division bench of the High Court comprising Justices Thottathil B Radhakrishnan and Babu Mathew P Joseph, which rejected the request for permission for probe against Mani, also dismissed Asif Ali’s plea for postponement of the hearing of arguments on the appeal the accused in the case had filed against their penalization by the District and Sessions Court, Ernakulam.
The division bench had while considering the Government’s plea the other day said that those who were undergoing life imprisonment in the case would have to be granted bail if permission for follow-up probe was granted. Observers said that the court’s decision would give some credence to the CPI(M)’s argument that the Government was acting in a revengeful manner.
Pointing out the inconsistencies in the Government’s plea for a fresh probe, the division bench said that Mani had also said in his speech that Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s associates were behind the killing of CPI(M) leader Ayyappadas. The court asked the Government why it had failed to inquire about this while it was particular about re-probing Balu’s death.
The court observed that the police had not got enough evidences to launch a case against Mani and a case could not be registered against him merely on the basis of a speech he made, adding that he had not revealed in his speech that he had killed anybody. In a speech at Manakkad near Thodupuzha in Idukki district on May 26, 2012, Mani had said, “We (the Marxist party) prepared a list of 13 (Congressmen) and killed them one by one… but we couldn’t kill them all. The first three in the list were eliminated first. The first one was shot dead, the second was stabbed to death and the third was beaten to death.”
This speech had prompted the UDF Government to go on an offensive against Mani and his party and this was also the basis of the call for a follow-up investigation into Balu murder. Mani had been arrested and detained in prison for several weeks alleging involvement in the killing of another Congressman, Anchery Baby, about 32 years ago, mainly on the basis of his speech.