Women outfit has no locus standi to file petition in Suryanelli case: Government

The state government on Thursday submitted before the High Court that the Kerala Mahila Sangham has no right to file a petition seeking a directive to the state to conduct an investigation against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien in the Suryanelli rape case.

In a statement, the state submitted that the petition has been filed without the knowledge and consent of the victim. Hence, the organisation has no locus standi to file the petition in the case. The state made the submission on a petition by Kerala Mahila Sangham state committee secretary Kamala Sadanandan.

The petitioner had also sought a directive to produce the records of the investigation conducted by Siby Mathews, former investigating officer, on Kurien’s role in the case.

The inquiry reports in favour of Kurien should not be taken into consideration as it was not based on an FIR,  nor was it according to the terms of the Code of Criminal Procedure, it said.

“Kurien is using his political clout to sabotage the possibility of any further investigation against him. In March 1996, the victim had submitted a complaint before the Chief Minister of Kerala regarding Kurien’s alleged involvement. Later, the state constituted a special investigating team and conducted the probe without registering an FIR. Hence, it is not a legal investigation but only an inquiry which was intended to save Kurien,” the petitioner submitted.

The state said the petitioner had approached the court with an aim of gaining political mileage out of the predicament of the victim.

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