Kerala High Court upholds life sentence for convicts in TP Chandrasekaran murder case

Among the 12 convicts, 11 of them—MC Anoop, Kirmani Manoj, Kodi Suni, TJ Rajeesh, Muhammad Shafi, Annan Sijith, K Shinoj, KC Ramachandran, Trouser Maoj and CPM Panoor area committee member PK Kunjananthan, and Vayappadachi Rafeeq were awarded life sentence while another convict Lambu Pradeep was sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment in the murder case.

As reported by the Bar and Bench, in addition to dismissing the appeals that the convicted individuals had filed, two more individuals who had been found not guilty by the trial court were also found guilty by the court. One of the convicted individuals passed away while the appeal was pending.

The judgment was passed by a division bench made up of Justices AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and Kauser Edappagath. The bench also issued non-bailable warrants against KK Krishnan and Jyotibabu, the two additional guilty individuals.

The Indian Penal Code’s Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) and Section 302 (murder) charges were found to have been committed by Krishnan and Jyotibabu, according to the High Court’s ruling.

In order to hear arguments over sentences, the court ordered all convicted parties to appear before it on 26 February.

Also Read: Did the public prosecutor dilute a sensational political murder case to help a Kerala CPI(M) leader walk free?

TP Chandrashekaran

TP Chandrasekharan was brutally murdered by a gang of CPI(M)-hired goons on 4 May, 2012. The brutality had then shaken the collective conscience of Kerala. The incident made the state sit up and ponder the futility of political vendetta.

One of the most brutal political killings Kerala has witnessed was 10 years ago at Onchiyam in the Kozhikode district. Chandrasekharan sustained 51 stab injuries, and those convicted for the murder included local leaders of the CPI(M).

A special police team that conducted an in-depth probe into the larger conspiracy angle of the killings pointed at some of the top CPI(M) leaders of the time. However, the CPI(M) returned to power in 2016 and scuttled the probe.

Chandrasekharan was killed since he had founded the Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) after parting ways with the CPI(M). He left the CPI(M) because of the Left party’s deviance from its claimed ideology.

The CPI(M) found the RMP’s growing support in Vadakara and neighbouring areas disturbing, and it culminated in the elimination of Chandrasekharan, popularly known as TP.