KOCHI: The state government has filed a special leave petition before the Supreme Court, seeking to withdraw the criminal case against Education Minister V Sivankutty, former higher education minister K T Jaleel and four other LDF leaders. The case pertains to the ruckus that took place in the state assembly during the budget session in 2015, when the MLAs, who were on the Opposition side, broke chairs, snapped mikes and climbed atop tables protesting against then finance minister K M Mani.
Former MLAs E P Jayarajan, K Ajith, C K Sadasivan and K Kunjammed are the other accused. The state challenged the Kerala High Court single judge order dismissing the petition to end the case. As per the prosecution case, the accused persons disrupted the budget presentation and climbed on to the speaker’s dais and damaged properties, causing a loss of Rs2.2 lakh to the state exchequer.
In the petition, the state argued the accused persons are entitled to the protection of legislative privileges of their acts committed on the floor of the house. The state also said the single judge had failed to appreciate that the incident happened on the assembly floor. In such circumstances, it was not proper to dismiss an application filed by the prosecutor. Besides, speaker’s sanction is needed to register a case against legislators.