Kerala High Court Grants Bail To 3 Accused In SDPI Leader Shan's Murder

The Kerala High Court on Thursday granted bail to three of the accused in the shocking political murder of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) State Secretary K.S Shan who was hacked to death in December 2021.  

Justice Gopinath P. released the accused on bail citing that the only offence made out against them was under section 212 (harbouring an offender) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

"I am of the opinion that the petitioners are entitled to bail especially on account of the fact that as things stand today, the only allegation against them is that of having committed an offence under Section 212 of the Indian Penal Code which, it is not disputed, is a bailable offence." 

However, the Court recorded that since the release of the accused on bail may result in a retaliatory attack and that the law and order situation is still volatile in Alappuzha district, where the attack took place.

Therefore, the following bail conditions have been imposed on the accused by the Court:

• They shall execute bonds for sums of ₹50,000 each with two solvent sureties each for the like sum;
• They shall report before the investigating officer as and when called upon to do so;
• They shall not enter the Alappuzha District, except for the purpose of complying with any instruction issued by the investigating officer ;
• They shall not attempt to or to influence or intimidate any witness;
• They shall surrender their passport, if they possess one, before the Jurisdictional Magistrate;
• They shall not get involved in any other crime while on bail.

Senior Advocate P Vijayabhanu instructed by Advocate Sruthy N Bhat appeared for the petitioners and contended that the only offence attracted in the case is a bailable one. It was further pointed out that even according to the prosecution, the petitioners were not part of the conspiracy and at best the prosecution case is that they helped to harbour the accused persons.

However, the Public Prosecutor submitted that the murder was pre-planned and was on account of political rivalry. He opposed the grant of bail to the petitioners alleging that there is every chance of a retaliatory attack and the law and order situation in the area is still volatile. However, he conceded that the investigation conducted thus far does not show that the petitioners were part of the original conspiracy.

Noting that one of the accused was an ambulance driver who reportedly helped Shan's assassins escape by ferrying them in his ambulance, the Court reiterated its concern over crimes committed in ambulances in the State. It had pondered over this question elaborately on a previous occasion. 

The Judge added that a suspiciously higher number of ambulances can be seen frequently crisscrossing the State as compared to other States in the country:

"We see so many ambulances crisscrossing on the roads here. Are so many sick people in the State?" 

The attackers allegedly rammed the scooter Shan was riding on with the car before hacking him to death. As he fell down, the assailants inflicted around 40 injuries on him leading to his death.

Shan's murder was followed by an alleged retaliatory killing of BJP leader Ranjith Sreenivasan the very next day in front of his family. The political murders had left the State in utter shock and led to the imposition of prohibitory orders in Alappuzha for a couple of days.

Case Title: Akhil & Ors v. State of Kerala

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Ker) 22

Click Here To Read/Download The Order