Kerala court frames charges against LDF convener E P Jayarajan in 2015 Assembly ruckus case

A court in Kerala on Monday framed charges against LDF convener E P Jayarajan in the 2015 Assembly ruckus case.

The charges were read out by the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) here to Jayarajan who denied the same, a lawyer associated with the case said.

Thereafter, the court listed the matter on October 26 for the prosecution to submit the video clips of the incident that it was relying upon.

On September 14, the court had framed charges against the other accused -- General Education Minister V Sivankutty, Left MLA K T Jaleel and former legislators K Ajith, C K Sadasivan and K Kunhammad -- who had denied the same.

As Jayarajan had not appeared on that date, September 26 was fixed for framing charges against him.

Earlier in the day, the LDF convener told reporters here that he will appear before the court as ordered by it and the Kerala High Court.

He also said Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru had also appeared in court and many leaders, while in power, have faced cases.

All the six accused are facing charges under Sections 447 (criminal trespass), 427 (mischief causing damage), read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 3(1) of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property (PDPP) Act.

The Kerala High Court had earlier this month declined to stay trial in the case and directed them to be present before the trial court on September 14.

The high court's order had come on a criminal revision petition moved by the accused last year against the dismissal of their discharge plea by a lower court in Thiruvananthapuram. The revision petition is still pending in the high court.

The accused have claimed before the high court that the findings against them are not supported by any legal evidence, none of the then MLAs filed any complaint regarding the incident and the probe was conducted by a CB-CID Deputy SP based on a letter from the Legislative secretary.

On October 13, 2021, the CJM court dismissed the discharge pleas of the accused, saying the material before it discloses a grave suspicion that they have committed the offences and therefore, there were sufficient circumstances to frame charges against them.

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.

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 allegedly damaged by the then LDF members, causing a loss of Rs 2.20 lakh.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)