Murder convicts remission issue: UDF accuses assembly Speaker of being 'scared'

Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress-led UDF opposition on Tuesday accused the Kerala Assembly Speaker of being 'scared' to discuss the issue of the Left government allegedly considering sentence remission of some of the convicts in the sensational T P Chandrasekharan murder case of 2012.

Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan accused Speaker A N Shamseer of being scared after the Chair prevented him from completing his speech following the denial of permission to the UDF's motion to adjourn the House to discuss the issue.

Shamseer denied permission to the UDF motion, moved by Congress' Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, saying it was clear that the government has made no attempt to grant remission to any of the convicts in the case.

The Speaker, however, permitted the issue to be raised in the House as a submission.

Responding to the Speaker's decision, Satheesan said it was "inappropriate" that Shamseer said what the state government should have.

He said that the opposition has proof that the government considered giving remission to some of the convicts in the case.

"We have a letter from the government to the police commissioner seeking a report with regard to providing remission," he claimed.

While Satheesan was speaking, Shamseer said the LoP cannot be allowed to continue talking about the issue as it has been raised in the House several times and his microphone was, thereafter, switched off.

Responding to the stand taken by the Speaker, Satheesan alleged, "You are scared." Following that, many UDF MLAs trooped into the well of the House shouting slogans against the Speaker and stood before his dais.

They also shouted slogans against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the ruling CPI(M) in the state.

The protesting MLAs also held placards, some of which said "you can kill, but you cannot defeat".

As the protesting MLAs did not heed the Speaker's repeated requests to return to their seats, Shamseer said that the House will continue with its business.

Thereafter, the House passed the demands for grants in the Budget for the financial year 2024-2025 under the heads of Medical and Public Health and Family Welfare.

Subsequently, the Speaker concluded the proceedings for the day and said the House would resume on Wednesday morning.

The Kerala government's purported move to grant remission to three of the 12 convicts sentenced to life in the T P Chandrasekharan murder case of 2012 had on Saturday kicked off a political storm in the state with the Congress-led UDF and the BJP criticising the Left administration over it.

The UDF had said that it was a "strange" decision on the part of the government as considering the convicts for remission would be a violation of the High Court verdict denying the same to them.

The opposition had also said that it clearly indicates that the government was trying to protect the criminals who killed Chandrasekharan by hacking him 51 times.

UDF MLA and Chandrasekharan's widow, K K Rema, had expressed shock over the development, saying it was "unexpected" as there was a High Court order prohibiting any remission to the convicts.

While handing out life sentences to 12 convicts in the case, the High Court in its February 27 order had said that nine of them would not be entitled to remission before completing 20 years of imprisonment.

Of the nine, T K Rajeesh, K K Muhammed Shafi and S Sijith are the three convicts being purportedly considered for remission.

Rema had said that the Jail Superintendent on his own could not have taken this decision without the knowledge and backing of Chief Minister Vijayan, who is also in-charge of the Home Department.

The BJP had said that the government move was not surprising.

Chandrasekharan (52), leader of the Revolutionary Marxist Party, was hacked to death by a gang while he was returning home on his bike.

The then United Democratic Front (UDF) government in Kerala constituted a special investigation team to probe the case.