Kerala PCC chief K Sudhakaran acquitted in CPM Leader EP Jayarajan's Murder attempt case

The acquittal came in connection with the three-decade-long case which had rocked the state’s political landscape. The Thiruvananthapuram additional sessions court order seeking trial proceedings against the Congress leader was also quashed.

The HC delivered the verdict while considering the plea filed by Sudhakaran.

The case pertains to the murder attempt on CPM leader E P Jayarajan on April 12, 1995, when he was returning to Kerala after attending the party Congress in Chandigarh. The CPM leader was shot at on board the train near Chirala railway station in Andhra Pradesh. The conspiracy behind the incident was investigated by registering a case in Kerala.

The prosecution's case is that Sudhakaran conspired with the accused directly involved in the crime in Thiruvananthapuram.

The trial court had earlier rejected Sudhakaran's plea to be excluded from the chargesheet. He approached the high court challenging this. The high court's order accepted Sudhakaran's argument that the allegations were politically motivated, that there was no evidence and that the witness statements were not reliable.

A trial court convicted the first accused, Pettah Dinesan, and the second accused, Vikramchalil Sasi, in the murder attempt case. The conviction of the accused was set aside by a higher court which acquitted them of the charges.

Sudhkaran approached the Thiruvananthapuram additional sessions court citing their verdict and sought acquittal in the case. But his plea was rejected by the trial court referring to the evidence in conspiracy charges against him.

Subsequently, Sudhakaran filed a petition before the high court.

Meanwhile, KPCC president Sudhakaran, who is in Delhi, welcomed the High Court verdict acquitting him in the case. “This case was always hanging like a Damocles sword over my head. We will fight the case even if the opposite parties go in for an appeal. The CPM hounded me for decades in the name of this case,” he said,

Opposition leader V D Satheesan also hailed the verdict. The CPM had conspired to implicate Congress leaders in the case.