THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Assembly on Wednesday witnessed uproarious scenes with the Opposition UDF taking on the ruling LDF for its decision to withdraw criminal cases against former legislators in the ‘Kerala Assembly brawl’ 2015 case. The Opposition parties walked out of the House in protest after permission to move an adjournment motion was denied.
While the Opposition deplored the move to withdraw the case against the MLAs and demanded to reconsider the decision, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the case was being withdrawn taking into account public interest. He also said there was nothing wrong in withdrawing the case with the permission of the court.
Stating that the decision to withdraw the case was a jolt to democracy, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said that they would challenge the issue in court. He said there was no protection or privilege for an MLA who commits a crime in the House under Assembly rules. While seeking a notice to move the motion, Congress leader V D Satheeshan said the case should not be withdrawn as it was an offence committed against the state. “The MLAs who had committed a criminal activity inside the House are only trying to escape from the crime. If the case is withdrawn, it would only sent a wrong signal against equal justice,’’ he said.
Meanwhile Satheeshan’s statement regarding the petition filed by the former women MLAs against the attack on them during the 2015 brawl created an uproar. In his speech Satheeshan said the women MLAs had complained that they were molested in the House. The ruling MLAs strongly protested against the anti-women remarks. Condemning the statement, B S Bijimol of the CPI said that the anti-women remarks should be removed from the records.
On the allegations raised by the ruling against the attack on women MLAs, Satheeshan said: ‘ if the MLAS at that time had attacked the women MLAs, let them face the trial. On that day, everyone had seen what had happened in the Assembly. Everything was live and the unruly scenes were seen all over the world. There is nothing to hide.’’