KOCHI: The NIA court will announce the sentence in Panayikulam SIMI camp case on Monday. K M Balachandran, NIA Court Judge conducted hearing over the sentence in the case on Thursday.
NIA counsel P G Manu said the accused were involved in a crime against the nation. The court must consider the gravity of the offence and maximum punishment should be granted. The sentence should be based on the nature of the offence.
V T Raghunath, counsel for P S Shaduly and Ansar said that court should show lenience while granting sentence.
He submitted that the court should show lenience in the sentence for sedition charges levelled Abdul Rasik and Ansar. According to him, punishment in IPC 124A for sedition is given on the basis of the gravity of the incident. In this case, there had been no violence or any terror activities after the seditious speech made by the accused. Hence the accused should not be granted life imprisonment. S Shanavas counsel for Abdul Rasik, Nizamudheen and Shammi said that court should consider the age and family background of the accused while announcing the sentence.
According to him, Shaduly is an engineering graduate and unmarried. He is behind the bar since 2008. Abdul Rasik is a post-graduate holding a diploma in journalism. His father passed away in 2009 and brother is bedridden with half paralised body after an accident. His mother is more than 60 years old and he has three minor children. He is the sole bread winner of the family. Ansar is a graduate and his parents are old and sick. Nizamudheen’s father passed away and his mother is a cancer patient undergoing treatment at Thiruvananthapuram Regional Cancer Centre. He too has three children and is the sole bread winner for the family. Shammi is from a very poor background and his family has a debt of more than `5 lakh. He recently moved to Kozhikode to start life anew by opening a training institution. All the accused are in their 30s and their families are dependent on them.
The court last day found five persons guilty and acquitted 11 others. While one of them was found to be a minor during the trial stage the case against him was shifted to the Juvenile court in Kottayam.
One person who attended the camp was turned approver and his statement was the key for the prosecution for proving the offence against the accused.
Binanipuram Sub Inspector K N Rajesh raided Happy Auditorium in Panayikulam on the basis of a tip-off on August 15, 2006. The police had arrested 17 persons and recovered seditious book and pamphlets. The case was taken over by the NIA, New Delhi, in 2010.