Sreedharan Pillai, Rajagopal moves Kerala HC against Sabarimala hartal violence case

Kochi: Former Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai and former Union minister O Rajagopal have filed a petition in high court seeking to quash a case registered against them at the Mannar police station in Alappuzha district in connection with a violent incident during a statewide hartal in 2019, held in protest against the entry of young women into Sabarimala.Justice C Jayachandran sought instructions from the state govt on the petition and adjourned the matter to March 3. Police had registered a case regarding the incident on Jan 3, 2019, in which Sebastian of Chennithala, a DYFI activist, and his friends were allegedly attacked by a group of protesters while travelling in a car along the Mannar-Mavelikkara Road in Alappuzha. It was alleged that the accused, who were armed, manhandled the occupants of the vehicle on account of political enmity. Initially, the case was registered against four accused. Subsequently, the police arrayed senior BJP leaders, including the petitioners, as accused on charges of abetment, pursuant to an administrative order issued by the Kochi range inspector general of police. The case is now pending before the judicial first-class magistrate court, Chengannur.The petitioners contended that even if the entire chargesheet is taken at face value, no offence is made out against them. Pillai further submitted that at the relevant time he held the constitutional office of Governor and, under Article 361(2) of the Constitution of India, no criminal proceedings can be instituted or continued against the Governor of a State in any court during his term of office. Similarly, Rajagopal, the second petitioner, is a nonagenarian with an unblemished record of over 75 years in public service and currently resides in Thiruvananthapuram. The petition further alleged that compelling him to face the rigours of a criminal trial at Chengannur for what was described as a frivolous and non-existent charge, allegedly concocted by the police through a blatant misconstruction of a court order, would result in a grave and unconscionable miscarriage of justice.Previously, K Surendran, a senior BJP leader, had also approached HC seeking to quash the case against him arising out of the same incident, and the bench had stayed further proceedings against him.