Periya Double Murder Case: Kerala High Court Suspends Sentence Of Four CPI(M) Activists

The Special CBI Court had found the former MLA K. V. Kunhiraman, K. Manikandan, Raghavan Velutholi (Raghavan Nair), K. V. Bhaskaran guilty of offence under Section 225 (resistance or obstruction to lawful apprehension of another person) of IPC and had sentenced them to 5 years of simple imprisonment.

The Court had convicted 10 others under murder charges and had sentenced them to double life imprisonment.

These 4 people convicted under Section 225 had filed an appeal before the High Court, contending that even if the allegation against them are true, it would only fall within the first limb of Section 225 of IPC which can be punished only with a maximum imprisonment of 2 years.

The Division Bench comprising Justice P. B. Suresh Kumar and Justice Jobin Sebastian relied on the recent Supreme Court decision as per which the sentence is to be suspended when appeal is unlikely to be heard before completion of sentence.

"Currently, those cases in which accused persons are in custody since 2018, are being taken up for hearing and disposal by this Court. In other words, the above appeal is not likely to be taken up for hearing before the applicants complete their fixed term of sentence. That apart, it has been the practice of this court to suspend the execution of term sentences in cases of similar nature, and we do not find any exceptional reason in this case to deviate from the said practice," the order read.

Case Title: Manikandan and Others v Deputy Superintendent of Police and Others

Case No: Crl.A 17/ 2025