The court insisted on the appearance of the accused in the court and directed them to appear before it on October 25.
The Kasaragod district and sessions court on Tuesday directed BJP Kerala president K Surendran and five others, who have been named as accused in the Manjeswaram election bribery case, to appear before it on October 25.
Surendran’s discharge plea will be taken up for hearing on the same day
The defence counsels, including that of Surendran, argued that it was not essential for them to appear in person, given that they had filed discharge petitions in the case. However, the court insisted on the appearance of the accused in the court and directed them to appear before it on October 25.
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The petition filed by Surendran and the accused seeking to discharge them in the case under Section 227 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) will be taken up for hearing by the court on the same day.
Surendran and other accused didn’t appear before the court earlier on September 21, despite the court’s strict instruction.
In their discharge petition, Surendran and others said they are innocent and the case was fabricated by the police with political motives.
The case was based on a complaint given by VV Ramesan, who was the CPM-led LDF candidate from Manjeswaram constituency in the 2021 Assembly election. According to the prosecution, the BJP leaders forced K Sundara, who was a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate in the Manjeswaram constituency in the 2021 assembly election, to withdraw his nomination paper by bribing and later threatening him.
The case registered by the Badiadka Police was later investigated by a special crime branch team and the chargesheet was submitted to the court.
Surendran is the first accused in the case. The BJP’s Kasargod district former president K Balakrishna Shetty, Yuva Morcha former state treasurer Sunil Naik, and other party leaders K Manikanda Rai, Suresh and Lokesh Noda are other accused in the case.
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