Kerala HC Orders CBI Probe Into Twin Murders Of Youth Congress Workers [Read Judgment]

The High Court of Kerala has handed over the investigation of murders of two Youth Congress workers - Kripesh (19) and Sharat Lal (24) - to the Central Bureau of Investigation from the state police.

The single bench of Justice B Sudheendra Kumar ordered the CBI probe allowing the petition filed by the parents of the slain youth, who were killed at Periya in Kasargod district on the night of February 17, 2019.

Observing the investigation completed by the Crime Branch of the state police was a "sham", the Court set aside the final report filed in May 20 arraying 10 CPM workers as the accused. The Court observed that the involvement of top party leaders in the conspiracy for the crime was not probed by the police, and that the chances of conviction on the basis of the final report was very bleak.

"In this case, the deceased persons were the leaders of Youth congress and the accused persons were the leaders of CPM, which is the ruling party in Kerala. The circumstances already pointed out by this Court would impel this Court to hold that the investigation in this case was sham. This court is satisfied that the charge- sheet filed on the strength of the said investigation cannot lead to a fair trial. All the accused persons were leaders of CPM, which is the ruling party in Kerala. Therefore, the credibility and confidence of the petitioners in the investigation had been lost, particularly when the deceased persons were the leaders of congress party", observed Justice Sudheendra Kumar.

Forensic surgeon not questioned with reference to weapons recovered

The Court noted that as per the charge sheet, the weapons used to murder the deceased were four GI Pipes and three swords, which were recovered from the accused by the Crime Branch. However, the statement of the Forensic Surgeon that the injuries on the deceased could not have been caused by blunt objects ruled out the involvement of GI Pipes in the attack. Also, the swords recovered by the police were not shown to the Surgeon.

"The non-questioning of the Forensic Surgeon with reference to the weapons recovered is a circumstance indicating that there was no proper and effective investigation even in a case where two young persons were brutally murdered, as rightly submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioners.", observed the Court.

During the course of hearing, the Investigating Officer filed a statement in the Court saying that the pipes had not touched the body of the deceased, and had hit only the motorcycle in which the deceased were travelling. The Court found this statement to be "inconsistent" with the findings recorded in the final report.

"Since no injury could be inflicted on the deceased with the GI pipes recovered at the instance of the first accused, it has to be held that the Investigating Officer filed the charge-sheet in a pre-conceived manner, believing and accepting the version given by the first accused, without even conducting any proper and effective investigation. That apart, if the trial is permitted to be continued on the basis of the above said chargesheet filed by the Investigating Officer, the chance for conviction is very bleak, since the charge is against the materials collected by the prosecution.", said the Court.

Involvement of leaders not probed

The Court noted that accused 1 to 7 were arrested only after they surrendered before police. No incriminating materials were found against three of them - A2, A5 and A8.

One of the witnesses (CW97) had stated that four other persons were seen with the accused before the crime. The involvement of these four persons were not probed. However, the Investigating Officer filed a statement stating that CW97 cannot be fully believed.

Though the police claimed that the crime was due to personal vendetta, the materials in the FIR showed that it was a "political murder", observed the Court. The Court also took note of the fact that three top District party leaders had reached near the venue after the incident to take the accused to party office.

"Admittedly, the deceased persons were leaders of Youth Congress and the accused persons were the leaders of CPM, which is the ruling party in Kerala. The FIR registered in this case would clearly show that the murder in this case was a political murder".

"it is not discernible as to why the local party leaders reached at Velutholi and took the accused to the party office after the incident if the twin murder was planned and executed by the first accused Peethambaran alone, without the support of CPM party. This is a circumstance indicating that the contention of the petitioners that the twin murder in this case was planned and executed not by the first accused alone, but by the CPM party, is probable", the Court said.

The Court set aside the final report already filed by the Crime Branch and asked CBI to take over the investigation.

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