Kerala High Court closes 1995 case against Congress leader K Sudhakaran

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday closed the criminal case registered against Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K Sudhakaran in connection with an alleged conspiracy to murder Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] leader EP Jayarajan inside a moving train in Andhra Pradesh in 1995 [K Sudhakaran & Anr v State of Kerala & Ors]..Justice Ziyad Rahman AA noted that two FIRs were registered in the crime - one in Andhra Pradesh and a second one in Kerala. The Court stated that the criminal proceedings initiated against the accused based on the FIR filed by Kerala police cannot be allowed to continue as it was a second FIR for similar offences for the same incident, for which an FIR was already registered in Andhra Pradesh."Merely because, in the second FIR and final report, there is an allegation of conspiracy to do away with some more persons, that by itself cannot be a reason to treat the same as a completely distinct offence warranting or justifying the registration of a second FIR," the Court stated in its judgment..The prosecution allegation in the case was that due to political enmity, Sudhakaran along with the other accused persons had hatched a conspiracy to murder Jayarajan and some other CPI(M) leaders. On April 12, 1995 at around 10 AM, Jayarajan was shot at while travelling from Delhi to Kerala by train. Sudhakaran was not named as accused in the first FIR registered in Andhra Pradesh.However, Jayarajan preferred a private complaint in Kerala based on which the FIR in the present case was registered against Sudhakaran and the other accused persons under section 120B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, for criminal conspiracy.The judgement passed today was on a revision petition filed by Sudhakaran and another one of the accused persons in the crime, one Rajeevan, challenging the order of the trial court in Kerala refusing to discharge them from the case..They argued that the FIR in Kerala was based on the same crime and included the same offences as the previous FIR, which is impermissible in law. However, the prosecution argued that Sudhakaran and Rajeevan were not charge-sheeted and that the offence under section 120B IPC was not included in the first FIR. Therefore, the petitioners can be tried for the same based on the second FIR in Kerala. .The Court after analysing the submissions and going through relevant precedents concluded that the legal bar against registering a second FIR would apply in this case.''In this case, there is a specific bar in instituting the second FIR and, therefore, the prosecution against the petitioners are vitiated, as it violates the rights of the petitioners including their fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Therefore, this is a fit case in which invocation of the inherent/extra ordinary powers of this Court is justified, if necessary," the Court explained..The Court, therefore, discharged K Sudhakaran and Rajeevan from the criminal case. .The petitioners were represented by Senior Advocate S Sreekumar and advocates M Meena John & Viju Thomas.Special government pleader S U Nazar appeared for the state.Advocate CP Udayabhanu and advocate TS Sreekutty represented Jayarajan..[Read Judgment]