KOCHI: Sad saga of political rivalry and mindless killing is tearing apart the social fabric of the state, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday while holding that prosecution miserably failed to prove the case against 13 RSS men accused of killing CPM worker Vishnu in front of the passport office at Thiruvananthapuram in 2008.
While acquitting the accused, a division bench comprising justices K Vinod Chandran and C Jayachandran said in the 122-page judgment, “The manner in which events were portrayed before the Court smacks of a deliberate attempt to tutor witnesses and collect evidence, to define a scripted story. The sad saga of political rivalry and mindless killing, as we have noticed in many cases, tears asunder the social fabric of the State. The saga written in blood continues and the memorials held by the rival parties offer no solace to destitute parents, hapless widows and orphaned children, who often lose the only breadwinner of the family. The yearly remembrances only stoke the fires of rivalry and does not wipe the tears of the bereaved or awaken the conscience of those who matter. Another life is lost and yet another prosecution fails, both lying on the wayside, grim reminders to the society of the futility of all.”
The accused had filed a total of four appeals (Crl. A. No., 1350/2016 and three others) through senior advocates P Vijayabhanu, B Raman Pillai, and advocate Arjun Sreedhar.
While allowing the appeals against the conviction by a sessions court, the high court held that it can only acquit the accused as prosecution miserably failed to prove the incriminating circumstances against them and as the eyewitness testimonies are incredulous as also the statements of the witnesses attesting to recovery of weapons. “There is absolutely no evidence worth its salt, and the prosecution failed to prove any corroborative circumstance, but for the political rivalry existing between two groups,” the court held.
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