KOCHI: A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Wednesday sought the views of the prosecution on the appeals filed by the four convicts who were workers of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) challenging the judgment of the Additional Sessions Court, Mavelikkara, awarding death sentence for murdering advocate Ranjith Sreenivasan, state secretary of OBC Morcha.
The Sessions Court had awarded capital punishment to 15 accused persons. Meanwhile, the High Court issued notices to the 15 accused, who were sentenced to death, in the death sentence reference (DSR) matter. A death sentence reference is a procedure wherein the Sessions Court sends a case to the High Court for confirmation of the death sentence.
The Bench sought the view when the appeals filed by the accused Naisam, Ajmal, Anoop and Muhammed Aslam came up for hearing. The appeals pointed out that the judgment was against the law and evidence in the case. Hence it is incorrect.
The charges framed by the trial court were defective and that had caused considerable prejudice to all the accused. The trial court ought to have found that there was no sufficient and trustworthy evidence from the side of the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused. The prosecution had failed to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
The appeal pointed out that the trial judge had emotionally approached the case rather than considering it on merits as the trial judge referred to the deceased as an ‘advocate’ throughout the judgment.
The identification of the assailants by the witnesses was conducted long after the arrest of the accused. Besides, there were contradictions and considerable discrepancies in the statements of the witnesses. There was no fair trial. The court ought to have accepted the defence case and acquitted the accused.
HC awards F5 lakh aid to Pocso case victim
While upholding the life imprisonment awarded to a stepfather accused of raping a 15-year-old girl by the Pocso special court, Thodupuzha, the High Court on Wednesday awarded I5 lakh as compensation to the victim. “The victim hails from a socially and economically backward tribal community. The mental trauma and agony she underwent when her stepfather sexually abused her cannot be lost sight of,” observed the court.
No intention to arrest Swapna, govt tells HC
The state government on Wednesday informed the High Court that the police have no intention to arrest Swapna Suresh, an accused in two cases registered for allegedly defaming the chief minister by dragging his name into the gold smuggling case, and trying to orchestrate riots in the state. The government made the submission when the anticipatory bail pleas filed by Swapna came up for hearing.