KOCHI: All the accused in the murder of Abhimanyu, an SFI leader, at Maharaja’s College in 2018 failed to appear before the Ernakulam District and Sessions Court despite a specific direction to do so as part of trial proceedings.
The daily proceedings recorded by Sessions Judge K K Balakrishnan stated: “All accused absent and the pleas to exempt from personal appearance are dismissed. All accused are directed to appear for framing of charge as amended on August 13.”
The 16 accused sought exemption from personal appearance, citing the presence of the media on the court premises and security concerns. The court, however, dismissed their pleas.
The court had directed the accused to appear in person for the reading out of an additional charge under Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the IPC, as requested by the prosecution.
The prosecution argued that members of the unlawful assembly had assaulted witnesses during the July 2018 incident, warranting the inclusion of the additional charge.
Counsel for the family of Abhimanyu argued that the accused were attempting to delay the proceedings by repeatedly remaining absent from court.