Kattakkada Christian College Elections Row: Kerala High Court Grants Bail To Former Principal, SFI Leader

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday granted bail to the former Principal of Christian College, Kattakada, G.J. Shyju, and Student Federation of India (SFI) leader Visakh A in the case related to alleged impersonation, falsification of documents and misrepresentation during the college elections held in May 2023.

The Single Bench of Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A. took note of the period of detention already undergone by the petitioners and the fact that there was substantial progress in the investigation during which necessary recoveries were already affected.

The former Principal, who has been named as the first accused person, sharing the common intention with the second accused person Visakh A., a SFI leader, was alleged to have created false documents and committed criminal breach of trust and cheating by forging the election documents of the college.

The 1st accused was alleged to have forwarded those forged documents to the Kerala University to enable the second accused to participate in the University Union elections, resulting in damage to the reputation of the Kerala University and eroding the sanctity of the election process of the University.

The accused persons were thus alleged of having acted in concert with each other and thereby committing the offences under Sections 409 ('Criminal Breach of Trust by Public Servant, Banker, Merchant, or Agent'), 419 ('Punishment for Cheating by Personation'), 420 ('Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of Property'), 465 ('Punishment for Forgery'), 468 ('Forgery for the purposes of Cheating') and 471 ('Using as Genuine a Forged Document or Electronic Record') read with Section 34 (Acts done in furtherance of Common Intention) of IPC.

Another Single Judge Bench of the High Court had, in June 2023, dismissed the anticipatory bail pleas filed by Shyju and Vysakh, observing that there was a prima facie case of dishonest and fraudulent conduct on the part of the first accused, adding that the second accused had also aided in the creation of a false document.

Noting that the petitioners have been under judicial detention since July 4 and that there is substantial progress in the investigation, the Court allowed the bail applications subject to them executing a bond for Rs. 1,00,000/- each, amongst other particulars.

The petitioners in the two bail pleas were represented by Advocates Sasthamangalam S. Ajithkumar and S. Nikhil Sankar. Public Prosecutor Sreeja V. appeared on behalf of the State. 

Case Title: Shyju G.J. v. State of Kerala and Visakh A. v. State of Kerala 

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Ker) 343

Case Number: Bail Appl. Nos.5641 of 2023 & 5672 of 2023

Click Here To Read/Download The Order