Kerala: Three Jail Officials Suspended Over TP Chandrasekharan Murder Case Convicts' Remission Issue
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2024-06-27 11:15 GMT
Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Government on Thursday suspended three jail officials including Kannur jail joint superintendent in connection with the inclusion of three convicts in the T P Chandrasekharan murder case in the list of prisoners for sentence remission.
Joint Superintendent S Sreejith who holds the charge of Kannur Central Jail superintendent; assistant superintendent (Grade - 1) P G Arun and Assistant Prison Officer Gopi Raghunath were suspended following an order issued by the Chief Minister's office.
The decision by the jail department to initiate the process of granting special remission to the convicts of T P Chandrashekharan's murder sparked a major political controversy in Kerala.
The process began with the Kannur Jail Superintendent in a June 13 letter requesting a report from the Kannur City Police Commissioner concerning the matter.
The letter, citing a 2022 government order and addressed to the Commissioner, proposed special remission for 58 convicts, including T K Rajeesh (fourth accused) K K Muhammed Shafi (fifth accused) and Annan Sijith (sixth accused) involved in the T.P. Chandrasekharan murder case. It also called for an expedited investigative report following inquiries with the convicts' relatives, friends, and victims.
T P Chandrasekharan, 52, 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 the attackers entirely disfigured his face.
Chandrasekharan was a former leader of the CPM who was expelled from the party due to alleged anti-party activities in 2008. Subsequently, he established the Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP).
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.
The names of T.P. Chandrasekharan murder convicts were included in a list for special remission as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations. It has been reported that jail authorities nationwide were instructed to compile a list of convicts eligible for remission. Consequently, many prisoners incarcerated for over ten years were automatically added to this list.
However, as part of Amrit Mahotsav special remission does not extend to prisoners convicted of capital punishment, life imprisonment, rape, terrorism, dowry death, and money laundering.
Meanwhile, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M B Rajesh said an inquiry will be ordered to ascertain whether any government official had intervened in the matter at the behest of opposition parties. The government had not taken any decision on granting remission to the said convicts hence it needs to be probed why the issue came up in this manner, he told mediapersons.
The state government's action, amid a High Court order mandating a fixed life term of 20 years without remission, had drawn strong criticism from T P Chandrashekharan's widow, K K Rema, and the opposition Congress-led UDF.
The issue had rocked the Kerala assembly after Speaker A N Shamsheer refused permission to Rema to move an adjournment motion on the issue.