VS pleads before court to hear his version in Ice Cream case

Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan on Friday appeared before the Kozhikode Judicial First Class Magistrate Court I and submitted a petition seeking to hear his versions while considering the final report submitted by the SIT on the ice-cream parlour sex scandal sabotage case.
VS pleads before court to hear his version in Ice Cream case

Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan on Friday appeared before the Kozhikode Judicial First Class Magistrate Court I and submitted a petition seeking to hear his versions while considering the final report submitted by the SIT on the ice-cream parlour sex scandal sabotage case.

Judicial First Class Magistrate P T Prakasan adjourned the hearing of the case to July 30.

In the petition , Achuthanandan objected the SIT’s act of submitting the final report before the Magistrate Court while the case was directly monitored by the High Court.

Achuthanandan’s advocate P Rajiv said the SIT had violated the procedure. On behalf of the government, Assistant Public Prosecutor Sreeja countered that Achuthanandan had no right to submit the petition as he was a third party in the case and requested the court to reject the petition.

After hearing both counsels, Magistrate Prakasan informed whether the petition of Achuthanandan was maintainable or not would be considered on July 30.

Report submitted

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) which probed the ice-cream parlour sex scandal sabotage case submitted its final report before the Magistrate Court on June 13 as per Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The case was based on allegations that Industries Minister P K Kunhalikutty and his estranged relative K A Rauf had entered into a criminal conspiracy to screen the former in the ice-cream parlour sex scandal and undermined the process of investigation and trial of the case by influencing investigating officers, witnesses and judicial officers using money and misusing power.

However, the SIT report noted that apart from the solitary deposition of Rauf, there was neither admissible and relevant evidence nor any documentary evidence to substantiate the allegations against Kunhalikutty.

However, the probe established that the witnesses of the ice-cream parlour sex scandal had received exorbitant amount of money at various points of time.

But due to varying and inconsistent nature of versions given by the witnesses, the purpose for which they received money could not be revealed.

The SIT took statements of 142 persons including Justice K Thankappan, Justice K Narayana Kurup, former government pleader P C Iype, former Kozhikode mayors O Rajagopal and T P Dasan, retired Judge L R Sathyan, former advocate general M K Damodaran, former additional advocate general V K Beeran, Works Minister V K Ebrahim Kunju and personal staff of Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan and minister P K Kunhalikutty.

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