KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Thursday held that the case pertaining to LDF MLAs creating a ruckus in the Kerala assembly by breaking chairs, snapping mikes and climbing atop tables during a budget session in 2015 cannot be kept on hold indefinitely.
Merely because an application to withdraw the case being filed has been kept pending without orders, the case cannot remain on hold indefinitely, the court observed.
The court observed that there is no justification for the inordinate delay in rendering a decision on the application seeking withdrawal from prosecution, particularly when the accused are elected Members of the Legislative Assembly.
In this regard, the Supreme Court had also issued directives to ensure speedy disposal of cases against sitting and former legislators.
The court directed the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Thiruvananthapuram to take a final decision on the petition filed by the prosecution to withdraw the case within two months from the date on which the court resumes normal functioning.
Justice VG Arun issued the order while disposing of the petition filed by MT Thomas of Kottayam and Peter Myaliparambil of Kaduthuruthy seeking a directive to the CJM Court, Thiruvananthapuram, to pass an order in the petition filed by the government prosecutor to withdraw the case against the accused.
When the LDF came into power, the additional public prosecutor had sought permission to withdraw the case against then LDF MLAs K Ajith, V Sivankutty, CK Sadasivan, KT Jaleel, who is now Higher Education Minister, K Kunjammed and EP Jayarajan, who is now Industries Minister.
The petitioners submitted that in spite of the case being posted 15 times between May 27, 2019 and June 16, 2020, the hearing of the petition is being deliberately protracted at the instance of the prosecution and the accused. Hence, they are seeking expeditious disposal of the application filed by the prosecutor.
Ajit Joy, counsel for the petitioners, submitted that the inordinate delay in disposing of the application has resulted in the calender case getting dragged on endlessly.
The offenses committed by the accused, all elected Members of the Legislative Assembly, are serious. With their unwholesome acts having been telecast live and viewed by the general public, the court's failure to decide the case within a reasonable time will create the wrong impression among the public, he added.