Assembly ruckus case: HC declines to stay trial

One-liner: The Kerala HC on Friday declined to stay the trial in the 2015 Assembly ruckus case in which General Education Minister V Sivankutty and some other prominent LDF leaders are also among the accused.

Judge direction: A judge asked all the accused, including LDF convener E P Jayarajan and Left MLA K T Jaleel, to appear for trial before the magisterial court.

Cong welcomes: The HC's decision was welcomed by senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala who has been opposing the Left Front leaders' attempts to get discharged from the case.

Severe blow: Chennithala alleged that the state govt was colluding with the accused to withdraw the case against them and the HC's decision was a severe blow to such attempts.

• The other accused in the case are former Left front MLAs K Ajith, C K Sadasivan and K Kunhammed

Govt's plea dismissed: On July 28, 2021, the SC had dismissed the Kerala govt's plea for withdrawal of the case against six LDF leaders, saying privileges and immunities are not gateways to claim exemptions from criminal law which governs the action of every citizen.

Flashback: The Assembly had witnessed unprecedented scenes on March 13, 2015, as the LDF members, then in the opposition, tried to prevent Finance Minister K M Mani, who was facing charges in the bar bribery scam, from presenting the state budget.

Flinging Speaker's chair: Besides flinging the Speaker's chair from the podium, electronic equipment like computers, keyboards and mikes on the desk of the presiding officer were also damaged by the then LDF members, causing a loss of ₹2.20 L.

Source: PTI