The LDF government’s move to grant special remission to the convicts of T P Chandrasekharan murder case convicts has drawn strong criticism from the opposition.

Opposition leader in the Kerala Assembly VD Satheesan on Saturday said that the LDF government’s move to release the convicts in TP Chandrasekaran murder case is a challenge to the people of Kerala and that the Congress and the UDF will strongly oppose it.

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Speaking to media persons in Kochi, Satheesan said that this move of the LDF government shows that the CPI-M and the LDF have learnt nothing from the debacle in the Lok Sabha polls.

“Despite setbacks in elections, the CPI-M continues to make mistakes without learning or correcting them. The opposition, along with the people of Kerala, would resist any attempt to release the TP Chandrasekharan murder case accused,” Satheesan said.

What right do the jail authorities have to recommend commutation to the convicts, who have been sentenced by the High Court for a fixed life term of 20 years without remission, Satheesan asked. He said the move would be dealt with politically and legally.

KK Rema, Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) MLA and widow of TP Chandrasekharan, has condemned the government’s move to release the accused in the TP murder case, which circumvents the High Court’s ruling.

She said the government move to release the convicts in the TP murder case, bypassing the High Court order, would be dealt with legally and politically.

Former Home Minister and senior Congress leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan has said that the government’s decision to release the accused in the TP murder case is against the jail manual.

No leniency is possible for those who have committed heinous crimes, he said. How the government is taking action to grant remission to the TP murder convicts flouting the High Court order, Thiruvanchoor asked.

A letter sent by the Kannur Central Jail Superintendent asking for a police report on remitting the sentences of TK Rajeesh, Muhammad Shafi, and Anna Sijith, convicts in the TP murder case, has leaked to the public domain. These three convicts were among those who have been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment by the Kerala High Court, which restricted their right to remission.

The Kerala High Court in February gave life sentences to all 12 accused in the T P Chandrasekharan murder case. Of these, nine convicts including Rajeesh, Muhammed Shafi and Annan Sijith were awarded life sentences without remission for 20 years.

It is learnt that the names of TP Chandrasekharan murder convicts were included in the list for special remission as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.

T P Chandrasekharan, 52, a former leader of the CPI-M, was brutally murdered by the gang near Onchiyam on the night of May 4, 2012, as he was riding home on his motorcycle. His body bore 51 hack wounds, and his face was entirely disfigured by the attackers.

After the move became a political controversy, the jail authorities have come out with a clarification that the convicts of the TP Chandrasekharan murder case will not receive special remission.