KOZHIKODE: In a deft move to blunt the opposition’s efforts to exploit the resentment among the Muslim community over the acquittal of all three accused in the Riyas Maulavi murder case, the state government has instructed the law department to expedite the procedures to approach the Kerala High Court in appeal.
The Kozhikode district court’s order acquitting the trio came at a time when CPM is projecting itself as the protector of Muslims and is vigorously campaigning against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
Various Muslim organisations, including the Samastha Kerala Sunni Students Federation and Jama’at-e-Islami, had strongly come out against the verdict.
Advocate C Shukkur, who handled the case initially, told TNIE that the appeal will be filed in a few days. “UDF is trying to derive political mileage from the issue. There is no merit in the allegation that the prosecution and police helped the accused,” he said.
No point in filing appeal: Satheesan
Shukkur said A Sreenivas, who supervised the probe, was appointed the Kasaragod police chief during the UDF rule. “He is known as an upright and efficient officer who does not bend to political pressure. The government appointed M Ashokan as the special prosecutor as per the suggestion of Riyas Maulavi’s wife,” he said.
After Ashokan’s demise, Advocate Shajith was appointed prosecutor as suggested by Moulavi’s wife, Shukkur said. “Our stand is that the court arrived at the conclusion without considering the evidence presented by the prosecution. The only solution is to move the higher court,” he said.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan said there is no point in filing an appeal after the trial court said there is no evidence. “We wanted to know whether letting off the RSS workers was an outcome of the discussions between CPM and RSS leaders at Thiruvananthapuram in the presence of Sri M,” he said.
Muslim Youth League state general secretary P K Firos said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is responsible for the failure to get justice for Maulavi’s family. In a statement, he said it is a legitimate doubt whether there is any connection between the LIFE Mission, SNC Lavalin and gold smuggling cases and the acquittal of the RSS men.
CPM leaders, however, defended the prosecution and police. LDF convener E P Jayarajan termed the acquittal of the three RSS men shocking. In a Facebook post on Sunday, he said the police and prosecution handled the case in an exemplary manner. “That is why the accused didn’t get bail for seven years even after approaching the Supreme Court,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kasaragod police have registered cases against three social media handles for posting hateful comments on the video of a news channel related to the Maulavi case judgment. The police have registered the case for promoting enmity between different groups under Section 153 (A) of the IPC.