Kasaragod: The Kerala State Election Commission has annulled the resignation of a female Muslim League member of Paivalike grama panchayat in Kasaragod district after finding that she was pressurised and threatened by her husband. But behind her husband was a grassroots CPM leader, who was once arrested under the stringent Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (KAAPA) and booked for gang rape and attempt to murder.
"Undoubtedly, there was a vitiating element in her resignation," said State Election Commissioner A Shajahan in his order setting aside Siyasunnissa's resignation and reinstating her as a member of Paivalike grama panchayat on Tuesday, December 12, when byelections were held in 33 local body wards in Kerala.
In the 19-member Paivalike panchayat board, the BJP and the LDF have eight members each, and the UDF has three members. The LDF got the panchayat president's post after it won a toss of the coin in 2020; the BJP won the toss for the Vice-President's post.
The LDF would not have to depend on luck had it retained ward no. 2 (Siranthadka) in the 2020 local body election. It won the ward in 2010 when it was reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates, and in 2015 when it was reserved for female candidates.
In 2020, Siranthadka was again reserved for female candidates. But this time, Siyasunneesa, a BPharm graduate fielded by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), won from the ward.
But nearly three years on, Siyasunneesa (32) sent her resignation letter to Paivalike grama panchayat secretary Jagadish V by registered post on September 18.
The letter reached the panchayat secretary at 12.45 pm on September 20. But before that, around 11 am, Siyasunneesa reached the panchayat office and gave a petition to the secretary, seeking permission to withdraw her resignation letter. In her petition, she wrote that she signed the resignation letter after "succumbing to the threats and pressure of some people".
But when the Secretary received her resignation letter, he found it in order, that she had submitted the resignation letter in the prescribed form, and it was signed in front of a gazetted officer and attested by the same officer. The Secretary accepted the resignation letter and posted back the acknowledgment card that came with the registered post.
Siyasunneesa refused to accept the acknowledgement card and decided to approach the State Election Commission. According to Section 155 (3) of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, if there is a dispute over the resignation of the President, Vice-President, or members of the panchayat, the stakeholders should approach the State Election Commission within 15 days from the date of resignation.
Backed by her party IUML, Siyasunneesa approached the State Election Commission on October 3, the 15th day from September 18.
The State Election Commissioner called Siyasunneesa, Panchayat Secretary Jagadish, and Gazetted Officer Vishwanatha K, a teacher of Government Higher Secondary School, Paivalike, for a hearing on November 15.
Siyasunneesa told the commission that her husband and his friend Zakariya Bayar (36) were present before the gazetted officer. She repeated her statement to the secretary. "My husband pressured me to sign the resignation letter. The resignation letter was posted to the panchayat secretary by my husband's friend Zakaria," she told the commission.
School teacher and gazetted officer Vishwanatha told the commission that he personally knew Siyasunnissa. "On September 18, when I waited at the school, she came with her husband and another person around 5 pm," he said.
Vishwanatha asked Siyasunnissa and the two men why she was resigning, and they answered she had little children to take care of.
On hearing the three, the Election Commissioner concluded that Siyasunnissa signed the resignation letter under "undue influence".
He quoted Section 16 of the Indian Contract Act in the order. A contract is said to be induced by "undue influence" if one of the parties is in a position to dominate the will of the other and uses that position to obtain an unfair advantage over the other, the order said.
"Her husband and her husband's friend did not accompany her to the attesting officer to help her or to introduce her to the attesting officer because the attesting officer said he knew Siyasunnissa. It can be inferred that they were present to ensure Siyasunnissa did not object to signing the resignation letter before the attesting officer," the order said.
"After the attestation, the resignation letter was taken from the gazetted officer's hand and posted to the panchayat secretary by Zakariya. It can be seen that they left after ensuring Siyasunnissa resigned as the panchayat member," the order said.
Siyasunneesa refused to comment on the State Election Commission's order reinstating her as the panchayat member.
Who is Zakariya
The IUML said that it had also given a dossier on Zakariya to the Election Commission.
Ten years ago, Zakariya was with the IUML and he was a constant pain for the party, said Zulfikar Ali B, one of the two Muslim League members on the Paivalike panchayat board. The third UDF member is a Congressman in Ward 15 (Parambala).
Back then, Zakaria was known as Zacky and he was the Youth League Vice-President in his panchayat ward Muligadde, said Zulfikar Ali. "But when the police invoked the KAAPA and arrested him, our party threw him out," he said.
On August 5, 2014, Manjeshwar police arrested him for the gang rape and stabbing of a 21-year-old woman at Bayar in Paivalike. There were two more accused in the case. "The crime pushed Paivalike to the edge because the Sangh Parivar threatened to shut down the panchayat. It backed off because police promptly arrested him," said Zulfikar Ali. Zakariya was 27 years old then.
Before that, Manjeshwar police arrested him in September 2013. Police had then said that he was an accused in the attempted murder case of one Prasad, a resident of Bayar, and the main accused in the kidnapping and assault of Haneef, another resident of Bayar. He was also accused in two assault cases.
Police had invoked KAAPA before that and was released after serving two months in jail.
After his exit from the Youth League, he found refuge in the CPM, said Zulfikar. He became a member of the DYFI, the CPM's youth wing. "He is an important leader of the DYFI in the area. The CPM has also made him a member of the party's Bayar Local Committee. He now runs a sand mining company called Bayar Mining Company," said Zulfikar Ali.
Despite his position in the CPM, the IUML leader said he did not believe the CPM or the DYFI had a role in getting Siyasunnissa to resign from her post. But if the Election Commission had not overturned the resignation and the LDF managed to wrest Ward No. 2 (Siranthadka) back from the UDF, it could have edged out the BJP from the Vice-President's post.
