KOCHI: The CBI special court here today sentenced V V Hamsa, main accused in the murder of progressive Islamic cleric Chekannur Maulavi, to double life imprisonment and a fine of Rs one lakh. Maulavi was abducted on July 29, 1993 from his home at Edapal in Malappuram district by Hamsa and another person and was later murdered.
The prosecution had pressed for the death sentence, saying it was a 'rarest of the rare' case. Pronouncing the verdict, Special Court Judge S Vijaykumar said that Rs 50,000 of the fine amount should be given to Maulavi's wife.
Hamsa had been found guilty by the court yesterday, while the other eight accused were acquitted. Maulavi's body was never recovered, despite efforts by local police and later the CBI, which investigated the case.
Delivering the judgement yesterday, Justice Vijaykumar had said that criminals seeking to achieve a stage of being wiser than criminal law in the present day world of personal grudge, religious rivalries and physical violence "cannot be allowed at any rate in a developed criminal legal system as ours." The court had also noted that it was evident the abduction was the result of a conspiracy of some fundamental Muslim individuals, who could not tolerate so called progressive philosophies of Chekannur, who preferred to put an end to the philosopher rather than debating and defeating his philosophy.