The Kerala High Court on Wednesday suspended the sentence awarded to former Udma MLA and CPI(M) leader K V Kunhiraman and three others by the Ernakulam CBI Special Court in connection with the murder of two Youth Congress workers in Kasaragod district six years ago.
A Division Bench comprising Justice P B. Suresh Kumar and Justice Jobin Sebastian granted stay on the five-year sentence of former Uduma MLA and CPI-M leader K V Kunhiraman, Kanhangad block panchayat president K Manikandan, and two other CPI-M leaders- Raghavan Velutholi, and A V Bhaskaran on their appeal against their conviction and subsequent punishment.
Citing the Supreme Court’s judgment in Atul alias Ashutosh vs state of Madhya Pradesh(2024) 3SCC 663, the Court observed that when appeals in such cases are unlikely to be heard before the completion of fixed-term sentences, it is customary to suspend the execution of the sentence.
“Currently, those cases in which accused persons are in custody since 2018, are being taken up for hearing and disposal by this Court. In other words, the above appeal is not likely to be taken up for hearing before the applicants complete their fixed term of sentence.
“That apart, it has been the practice of this court to suspend the execution of term sentences in cases of similar nature, and we do not find any exceptional reason in this case to deviate from the said practice,” the order said.
The Court directed the convicts to execute bonds of Rs.50,000 each with two solvent sureties for the same amount to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional court.Additionally, they were instructed to deposit the fine amount of Rs.10,000 imposed by the trial court.
The Special CBI Court in Kochi on Friday sentenced 10 CPI-M workers to double life imprisonment for the murder and conspiracy in the killings of Youth Congress workers Kripesh (21) and Sarathlal P K (24) in the Periya twin murder case.
The convicts Peethambaran, Saji George, Suresh, Anilkumar, Jijin, Sreerag, Aswin, Sudheesh, Renjith, and Surendran were convicted for life. They were also found guilty of unlawful assembly, rioting, and wrongful restraint and also fined Rs.2 lakh each. N. Seshadrinathan, Special Judge, CBI Court, Kochi, ordered that the punishment would run concurrently. The fine will be given to the families of the victims, Kripesh and Sarathlal.
The court also sentenced former Udma MLA and CPI-M’s Kasaragod District Secretariat member K V Kunhiraman, ,Kanhangad Block Panchayat president and CPI-M District Committee member K Manikandan, and two other CPI-M leaders- Raghavan Velutholi, and A V Bhaskaran for five years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 each for forcibly taking away second accused accused Saji C George, from police custody.
The case pertains to the murder of Youth Congress workers Kripesh,(19) and Saratl Lal P K(23), allegedly by CPI-M workers on February 17, 2019 due to political rivalry.