Kerala High Court Orders Further Investigation In 2006 Fazal Murder Case Based On Confession Of Alleged RSS Member

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday directed a special team of CBI to conduct further investigation into the murder of the National Development Front (NDF) activist Mohammed Fazal in 2006.

Justice Ashok Menon found that the murder appeared to be heavily influenced by political ploys, with new developments arising a decade after the incident. In 2016,

The petitioner P.K Abdul Sathar is the brother of the deceased and had approached the Court seeking a further probe into the matter to proceed against the real culprits behind his brother's murder. Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra appeared for the petitioner. 

The petitioner had earlier preferred a similar petition before the Sessions Court which dismissed the matter on the ground that once the final report is filed, the de facto complainant or aggrieved cannot seek further investigation without the investigating officer asking for it, citing Amrutbhai Shambhubhai Patel v. Sumanbhai Kantibhai Patel and Ors [(2017(1) KHC 867(SC)].

The petitioner submitted that this decision was overruled by Vinubhai Haribhai Malaviya & Ors v. State of Gujarat &Anr [2019 (5) KHC 352].

The Senior Government Pleader also agreed with the petitioner and urged that a further investigation as necessary. 

Upon perusal of the arguments and materials on record, the Court  held as such: 

"There is undoubtedly a need for examination of the confession statement and the attending circumstances. Without an examination of those materials by the investigating agency, it is not proper to discard them altogether. When some fresh facts come to light leading  to inculpating and exculpating certain persons, arriving at the truth and doing  substantial justice in a criminal case are more important than avoiding further delay being  caused in concluding the criminal proceeding."

Mohammad Fazal was murdered in October 2006, and a preliminary investigation revealed that it was a murder induced by political rivalry. Accordingly, a couple of CPI(M) workers, Karayil Rajan and Karayil Chandrasekharan were arrested connected to the matter. 

However, in an interesting turn of events, in 2016, an alleged RSS worker Subeesh allegedly confessed to his involvement in the crime. Soon, the police found incriminating evidence in this angle apart from the extra-judicial confession to prove the role of RSS workers in the murder. 

The CBI as well as the said Subeesh opposed the plea for further investigation. But the Court noted that The CBI failed to make any investigation concerning the alleged confession statement. 

Additionally, Justice Ashok Menon observed that some of the witnesses who claimed to have witnessed the occurrence later retracted from their earlier version. Similarly, the final report suggests that there was an RSS-NDP clash in the area on the eve of the murder The attack on Fasal could possibly be in retaliation to the attack on RSS workers, as alleged.

On these grounds, the writ petition was allowed by the Court. 

Background: 

Mohammed Fazal was a newspaper distributor who became a member of the NDF after leaving the CPI(M) party. The NDF is now popularly known as the Popular Front of India.  

He was found hacked to death with 21 mortal injuries on 22nd October 2006 with tridents planted near his body, to create an impression that RSS members were the perpetrators.

The murder was initially investigated by the local police. However, the High Court through an order later transferred the case to the CBI upon a plea preferred by the deceased's wife contending that the investigation by CB-CID was improper and insufficient. 

In both investigations, the murder was found to be a result of a political conspiracy hatched by CPI(M) activists offended by Fazal switching allegiance from CPI(M) to NDF.  Accordingly, Karayil Rajan and Karayil Chandrasekharan were arrested and put behind bars. 

However, a decade after the incident, Subeesh, an alleged RSS worker reportedly confessed to killing Fazal with three other RSS workers. Subeesh was already accused of another political murder of a CPI(M) member. 

The BJP immediately refuted such claims and asserted that Subeesh was pressurised to confess by the police. However, audio and video clips of the RSS workers allegedly confessing to the murder went viral on medial channels soon after. 

Case Title: P.K Abdul Sathar v. State of Kerala & Ors.

Click Here To Read/Download The Judgment