The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the Kerala government's petition seeking a direction to withdraw cases against prominent CPI (M) leaders for alleged vandalism in the Kerala state assembly in 2015 when the current ruling party in the state was in opposition. As per the order, six accused--including the current state education minister V. Sivankutty, have to stand trial in the case.
Of the six accused, E.P. Jayarajan and K.T. Jaleel were ministers in the previous LDF government. Former MLAs and CPI(M) members C.K. Sahadevan, K. Ajith and K. Kunhammed are the other accused.
"Privileges and immunity are not a mark of status which makes them stand on an unequal footing. These privileges bear a functional relationship to the discharge of functions of the legislators, but it is not a mark of difference that places the legislators on a pedestal," a bench of justices D.Y. Chandrachud and M. R. Shah stated in the order.
The bench also stated that the Kerala High Court had erroneously referred to the minority judgement in Sheo Nandan Paswan. "We have held that such a ruckus cannot be held to be a Parliamentary proceeding. However, the high court’s decision that the trial court can look into admissibility of evidence has been upheld as per Sheo Nandan Paswan," the bench said.
The verdict was pronounced on a batch of petitions, including the one filed by Kerala government against the high court order dismissing its petition seeking withdrawal of a criminal case lodged in connection with the ruckus.
The state assembly had witnessed unprecedented scenes on March 13, 2015 as LDF members, then in opposition, tried to prevent then finance minister K M Mani, who was facing allegations in the bar bribery scam, from presenting the state budget.
Besides flinging the speaker's chair from the podium, electronic equipment like computers, keyboards and mikes on the desk of the presiding officer were also allegedly damaged by the LDF members.
The SC bench had on July 15 reserved its verdict on the pleas.
The counsel appearing for the state government had argued that the incident happened in 2015 when there were allegations of corruption against the state government and the finance minister was about to table the budget in the House.
The counsel had said the FIR lodged by the secretary of Legislative Assembly secretary did not have any constitutional backing as the Speaker had not given any sanction and to give quietus to the matter, the present government has moved an application for withdrawal of the prosecution.
The case was registered for the alleged offences under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 447 (criminal trespass), and under the provision of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
