Kerala High Court Quashes Proceedings Against K.P Sasikala In Sabarimala Violence Case

The Kerala High Court recently dropped all charges against Hindu Aikya Vedi leader K. P. Sasikala for purportedly triggering a dawn-to-dusk hartal in the State to protest the entry of women in Sabarimala temple in 2018.

The said hartal had resulted in large-scale vandalism against which a PIL was moved before this Court to fix liability for the damages caused. The then State Police Chief had issued a circular to all District Police Chiefs to array the leaders of organisations that called the hartal as co-accused in all criminal cases registered that day.

However, Justice K Haripal allowed Sasikala's plea to quash all the proceedings against her, finding no legal evidence to inculpate her in the crime of abetting the unlawful assembly. 

"After going through the final report it is very patent that the petitioner was nowhere in the picture. None of the witnesses has stated that she had abetted or instigated the commission of the crime. Her presence has not been seen by any of the witnesses. Therefore it cannot be said that she had shared the common object of an unlawful assembly in committing the crime. There is no allegation that she had abetted the crime or indulged in any act of conspiracy with the other accused."

Sasikala was arrested on her way to Sabarimala in January 2018 under the suspicion that she intended to spark protests against women entering the temple. Though she claimed that she wanted to visit the temple to do darshan, the police suspected that she merely wanted access to organise protests.

This is in light of the fact that when the temple had opened twice after the Supreme Court's ruling allowing entry of women of all age groups to the temple, Sasikala was near the temple organising protests and checking documents of women who wanted to enter the temple.

After her arrest, a destructive hartal followed which led to several State leaders of the BJP and other allied organisations being arrayed as co-accused in hundreds of cases.

The petitioner appearing through Advocate Sajith Kumar V. contended that there was no allegation that she had either participated or abetted in the crime.

Senior Public Prosecutor Hrithwik strongly opposed the application arguing that it was the public statement issued by the petitioner through media that had kindled numerous acts of violence across the State. 

The Court noted that it is a basic principle of criminal jurisprudence that there must be legal evidence to inculpate a person in a crime.

It was further observed that there was no material to say that the petitioner had made any statement through media exhorting to commit violence or that the other accused were doing something in furtherance of such calls.

The Judge also took note of the fact that the State had passed an order permitting Public Prosecutors to withdraw cases relating to women's entry in Sabarimala in which serious criminal activities were not involved.

Finding the proceedings to be an abuse of process, the charges against the petitioner were quashed and the plea was allowed. 

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

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Ker) 136

Click Here To Read/Download The Order