Kerala High Court suspends sentence of four CPI(M) leaders in Periya twin murder

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday stayed the sentences against four Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] leaders including ex-MLA KV Kunhiraman who were convicted by a trial court in the Periya twin murder case. [Manikandan & ors v The Deputy Superintendent of Police & anr].The Division Bench of Justice PB Suresh Kumar and Justice Jobin Sebastian granted stay on the sentence while considering appeals filed by former MLA Kunhiraman, CPI(M) area secretary Manikandan and Raghavan Velutholi and KV Bhaskaran against the conviction handed down by the CBI Court.While hearing the appeals, the High Court noted that the four convicts had been sentenced to five years of simple imprisonment under Section 225 (resistance or obstruction to lawful apprehension of another person) IPC and fined ₹10,000 each by a Special CBI Court in Ernakulam on January 3, 2025.Referring to the Supreme Court's judgment in Atul alias Ashutosh v State of Madhya Pradesh [(2024) 3 SCC 663], the Court observed that when appeals in such cases are unlikely to be heard before the completion of fixed-term sentences, it is customary to suspend the execution of the sentence."Currently, those cases in which accused persons are in custody since 2018, are being taken up for hearing and disposal by this Court. In other words, the above appeal is not likely to be taken up for hearing before the applicants complete their fixed term of sentence. That apart, it has been the practice of this court to suspend the execution of term sentences in cases of similar nature, and we do not find any in cases exceptional reason in this case to deviate from the said practice. In the circumstances, we are inclined to suspend the execution of the sentence passed against the applicants," the Court ordered.The Court directed the convicts to execute bonds of ₹50,000 each with two solvent sureties for the same amount to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional court. Additionally, they were instructed to deposit the fine amount of ₹10,000 imposed by the trial court..The Periya twin murder case pertains to the politically motivated killing of two Youth Congress workers, Kripesh and Sarathlal PK, in Kasargod district's Periya in 2019.A CBI investigation revealed that a hit team of eight individuals, allegedly led by A Peethambaran, a member of the CPI(M) Periya Local Committee, carried out the murders.On December 28, 2024, a Special CBI Court in Ernakulam convicted 14 of the 24 accused in the case. Ten of them, including CPI(M) members, were sentenced to life imprisonment under Sections 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) read with Section 149 (unlawful assembly) of the IPC. Their sentences are to run concurrently.Four others, including former CPI(M) MLA KV Kunhiraman, had received five years of imprisonment under Section 225 IPC..Advocates S Rajeev, V Vinay, MS Aneer, Sarath KP, Anilkumar CR, KS Kiran Krishnan, Dipa V, CK Sreedharan, Abhishek Kurian appeared for the convicts..[Read Order]