THE Kerala High Court on Tuesday sentenced the 12 persons convicted in the sensational T P Chandrasekharan murder case of 2012 to life imprisonment and observed that it’s time to take a serious view on political murders as they undermine democratic principles. A Division Bench of Justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Kauser Edappagath upheld the life terms given by the trial court to 10 out of the 11 persons convicted for the murder of Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader Chandrasekharan at Onchiyam in Kozhikode district on May 4, 2012. “Crimes that have the effect of inducing fear in the people to the point where they are prevented from freely exercising their constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of speech and expression ought to be dealt with firmly, for they cannot be tolerated in a society that is governed by the rule of law,” the bench said, making a serious observation on political murders.

 

The High Court handed down life sentences to two others -- K K Krishnan and Geothi Babu -- whose acquittal by the trial court was reversed by it. Of the 11 persons convicted and sentenced to life terms by the trial court in 2014, Kunhanandan had died during the pendency of the appeal against the punishment, the bench noted. Besides them, the high court also upheld the conviction and sentence of three years given to Lambu Pradeep for destruction of evidence.

Of the 12 convicts given life terms, the High Court enhanced the punishment of nine including Anoop, Manoj alias Kirmani Manoj, N K Sunil Kumar alias Kodi Suni, T K Rajeesh, K K Muhammed Shafi, S Sijith, K Shinoj, K C Ramachandran and Manojan. The high court said they would not be entitled to remission before completing 20 years of imprisonment. This condition was not imposed by the high court on Krishnan, Babu and P V Rafeek who were also sentenced to life. Krishnan and Babu are were 76 years and 62 years old, respectively. Considering their age, the court did not impose the same condition on them.