Kerala HC grants bail to 9 CPI(M) workers accused of attacking ED officials
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Kerala HC grants bail to 9 CPI(M) workers accused of attacking ED officials")
Representative image. Photograph: (Wikimedia Commons)
The case relates to an incident on May 27, when a convoy of Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials was leaving Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's residence after completing an eight-hour search linked to the CMRL-Exalogic investigation involving his daughter, Veena Thaikkandiyil.
The Kerala High Court on Monday (August 3) granted bail to 9 CPI(M) workers, accused of attacking Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials after they launched a search operation at the residence of former Keralam Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Justice Kauser Edappagath observed while hearing the bail petitions that the allegations against the accused are serious and cannot be explained. Edappagath emphasised that continued detention was unnecessary given the progress of the probe and their lack of prior criminal records.
Underscoring the delay in police proceedings, Justice Edappagath found that, "Even after 67 days, the police have not recovered the weapon used for the attack. I understand there is prima facie material; the allegation is very serious and cannot be justified, and the act has to be condemned. But still, they have been in custody for the last 67 days, the investigation is almost over, and nobody has any criminal antecedents."
After the bail was granted, the central probe agency strongly opposed the bail pleas, arguing that the attack against the officers was a pre-planned conspiracy to intimidate and disrupt an ongoing investigation, stating, "The attack was not a result of sudden provocation; it was a planned act to deter officials from performing their duty."
Physical evidence of the case
The defence counsel argued that the arrests were carried out following the prescribed legal procedures and contended that Section 109 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deals with attempt to murder, had been invoked solely based on media footage without adequate physical evidence.
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The case relates to an incident on May 27, when a convoy of Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials was leaving Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's residence after completing an eight-hour search linked to the CMRL-Exalogic investigation involving his daughter, Veena Thaikkandiyil. According to the prosecution, the convoy was allegedly surrounded by a mob, which attacked the vehicles with stones, bricks and iron rods, damaging the convoy and injuring ED officials as well as security personnel accompanying them.
The petitioners, Kiran P.S., Jeevan, Anil Kumar, Sreejith, Nishad, Sidharth S., Shefeek, Nandhu G.R. and Rahul A. Rajan, approached the Kerala High Court after the Thiruvananthapuram District and Sessions Court rejected their bail pleas on two occasions.
