Kerala HC quashes rioting case against CM Pinarayi Vijayan, 11 other Left leaders

The Kerala High Court on Thursday quashed the criminal proceedings against state’s Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and 11 other leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), including former Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan, in a case alleging unlawful assembly and rioting as part of a 2009 human chain protest, reported Bar and Bench.

Backdrop

As per media reports, the Left leaders in 2009 held strong protests, including a 550-km human chain in Kerala against the Centre’s free trade pact with the ASEAN member nations. They said it would crumble Kerala’s economy owing to the devastating effects it would have on the state’s farm and fisheries sector. As many as 12 leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) approached the Court under section 482 of CrPC, alleging that the complaint was filed with malafide intentions and for oblique motives and that the offences alleged are not made out, according to Bar and Bench.

The Order

The Kerala High Court said that the right to dissent and the freedom to air views contrary to the views of the government is not an offensive conduct. It said: “Such an assembly is a formation in the exercise of the right to freedom of every citizen guaranteed under Article 19(1) of the Constitution. In this context, it is appropriate to observe that the right to freedom of speech and expression and the right to form an assembly guaranteed under the Constitution will be a dead letter if every assembly is regarded as offensive conduct.

It underlines: “Merely because the dissent is not acceptable to the majority, that is not a reason to initiate criminal action unless the dissent was coupled with violent, disorderly or damaging conduct by any member of the assembly.”

A private complaint before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Thiruvananthapuram, by a lawyer, alleged that the human chain formed at the behest of accused and 10,000 other identifiable persons resulted in the commission of offences under sections 143, 147, 149 and 283 of the Indian Penal Code,1860 apart from section 38 r/w section 52 of the Kerala Police Act, 1960. A magistrate took cognizance of the offences in 2012, reported LiveLaw. The CPM leaders then approached the High Court under Section 482 of CrPC, alleging that the complaint was filed with malafide intentions and for oblique motives and that the offences alleged are not made out.

—–INDIA NEWS STREAM