KOCHI: Nearly eight years after SFI leader Abhimanyu was murdered on the Maharaja’s College campus, the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court on Monday read out the charges against 16 accused. All of them pleaded not guilty.
The case has been posted to July 24, when the prosecution will submit the list of witnesses and documentary evidence it proposes to rely upon. The court is expected to thereafter fix the schedule for examining witnesses and recording evidence.
The accused appeared before the court in person as directed. After the charges were read out, the court asked each of them whether they admitted to the offences. All 16 denied the charges.
Earlier, the court had dismissed discharge petitions filed by six accused, holding that there were sufficient grounds to proceed with the case. It also rejected the first accused’s plea seeking the return of the chargesheet.
The case is being heard by Ernakulam Principal Sessions Judge K K Balakrishnan, with Special Public Prosecutor G Mohanraj appearing for the prosecution.
Abhimanyu, a second-year BSc Chemistry student of Maharaja’s College and the college’s SFI unit secretary, was fatally stabbed on July 2, 2018, during violence on the college campus. According to the prosecution, the attack followed tensions between SFI and Campus Front activists over campus graffiti.
Police alleged that the assault was carried out by activists affiliated with the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its student wing, Campus Front. The murder sparked statewide protests and renewed debate over political violence on college campuses.
Although the police filed the chargesheet in September 2018, the case remained pending because of a series of legal proceedings, including petitions filed by the accused, the surrender and production of absconding accused, and the reconstruction of missing court records.
A major hurdle emerged in late 2023 when key records, including the chargesheet, postmortem report and witness statements, were found missing from the court. Following directions from the Kerala High Court, the records were reconstructed using certified copies produced by the prosecution, allowing the Sessions Court to resume proceedings.
With the charges now read out and the accused denying them, the prosecution is set to begin presenting its witnesses and evidence.