THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala High Court’s decision to quash the preventive detention of BJP councillor R Sugathan under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (KAAPA) has triggered a fresh political war in Thiruvananthapuram corporation, with the LDF accusing the UDF of reaching an understanding with BJP and the Congress dismissing the charge as baseless.
“The circumstances that led to Sugathan securing relief from the HC expose a UDF-BJP deal at the state level. The government handled the case with extreme laxity and failed to produce adequate documents in court,” alleged LDF parliamentary party leader S P Deepak.
He accused the government of failing to make adequate preparations for the legal proceedings. “Since this was a KAAPA case, a third party cannot intervene in the proceedings. The government failed to produce adequate documents. Several pages were missing from the documents that were submitted, while many of the records forwarded by the home department were unclear,” Deepak alleged.
The government’s laxity was evident from the fact that Sugathan was allowed to take oath as councillor while in jail, he alleged. Deepak also raised questions over the handling of Sugathan’s application for six-month leave from the council, alleging that the home minister and local self-government minister acted on the file before a decision was taken.
The Congress rejected the charge, with Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala accusing the LDF of making baseless allegations. “These are all baseless allegations. There has been no deal and there is no need for one. Those who had entered into understandings in the past need not drag us into their attempts to wash away their sins,” he said.
On the verdict, Chennithala said the Congress will not criticise a judicial decision and will examine the judgment before deciding on further legal steps. “It is a court verdict. We cannot criticise the court’s decision. We will examine the copy of the judgment and see what legal action, if any, can be taken,” he said.
The BJP hailed the ruling as a political and legal victory. “The ruling is a resounding victory for the rule of law over institutional high-handedness,” said BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar. He alleged the KAAPA case was fabricated due to political vendetta to disrupt the BJP-led administration of the corporation.