Life sentence for all accused in TP murder case, no death penalty

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday gave a life sentence to all the 12 accused, including  K Krishnan (the 10th accused) and Jyothi Babu (12th accused), in the sensational T P Chandrasekharan murder case.
Nine convicts -- Anoop (1st accused) Kirmani Manoj (2nd accused) Kodi Suni (3rd accused) T K Rajeesh (4th accused), K K Muhammed Shafi (5th accused), Annan Sijith (6th accused),  K Shinoj (7th accused),  K C Ramachandran (8th accused) and Trouser Manoj (11th accused) -- were awarded life sentence without remission for 20 years (i.e they can apply for parole only after 20 years of imprisonment).

Considering the age and medical ailments of K K Krishnan (10th accused), Jyothi Babu (12th accused) and P V Rafeek (12th accused), the court sentenced them to life imprisonment, without curtailing their right to remission. 

All the accused were also slapped with a fine of Rs 1 lakh each. The court also said that a compensation of Rs 7.5 lakh should be paid to the victim's wife and MLA KK Rema, and Rs 5 lakh to his son.  

These convicts have been awarded the punishment for the offences of murder and criminal conspiracy under Sections 300 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code, respectively. It also upheld imprisonment of three years to M K Pradeepan aka Lambu (31st accused) under Section 201 of the IPC.

“While the crime would certainly rank as a heinous one committed against the victim TP Chandrasekharan, it is also one that threatens to undermine the democratic principles by which the people of the country as a whole has chosen to be governed by. Crimes which 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 the society that is governed by the rule of law," the division bench stated.

"While there is under this an element of public interest that is to be safeguarded through the prescription of punishment for the crime, any crime that is committed with the view to silence dissent which is an integral facet of the right to privacy under Article 21 of our constitution has to be seen as a crime against the people at large in a society that has chosen to be governed by democratic principles," the division bench of  Justice A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Kauser Edappagath said in its order.

The bench also stated that stricter terms of life imprisonment would strike a balance between the conflicting interests of the accused and the rights of the victim for serving the ends of justice. It stated that a stricter, fixed and modified punishment of life imprisonment would instil confidence in the minds of the community at large.

Though Rema expressed her happiness over the verdict, she vouched to take the legal battle forward to secure a higher punishment for the accused.

The High Court had on February 19 upheld the conviction of all the accused who were held guilty by the trial court in the murder case. It had confirmed the judgment of the trial court and upheld the conviction  with respect to the charges proved against them. One of the convicts Kunhanandan had died during the pendency of the appeals.

The High Court had also set aside the acquittal of the two other accused and convicted them for criminal conspiracy in the case related to the murder of Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader Chandrasekharan at Onchiyam on May 4, 2012.

Arguments
In her plea, T P Chandrasekharan's wife and MLA K K Rema requested the court to award maximum punishment to the convicts. In response to the prosecution's demand, the HC asked the counsel to cite reasons for demanding the death penalty for the aged convicts.

“Is there any situation that demands the death penalty to the convicts? K Krishnan and Jyothi Babu are already suffering from various health issues. As per the Supreme Court order, the chances of convicts' repentance should be considered while issuing a judgment. The death penalty is awarded only in the rarest of the rare cases,” said the High Court.
Meanwhile, the prosecution pointed out that the convicts had put the public speech given by Krishnan into practice by murdering the RMP leader brutally.

“Other cases were registered against the convicts while they were serving life sentence in the TP murder case. Hence, there are no chances for repentance. The murder was not a result of a sudden provocation. It was a well-planned one,” argued the prosecution. The jail officials have submitted reports on all convicts' mental and health status and behaviour before the court during the hearing.

Chandrasekharan, 52, the founder of the Revolutionary Marxist Party, was hacked to death by a gang around 10 pm on May 4, 2012. He was returning home on his bike when the gang knocked him down with their car before brutally hacking him. The Additional Sessions Court in Kozhikode sentenced 11 to life imprisonment and awarded a three-year jail term to another person Lambu Pradeep on January 22, 2014. PK Kunhanandan, former Panoor area committee member of the CPM, died while undergoing imprisonment on June 11, 2020. One person completed his jail term. The trial court at Kozhikode had acquitted 24 accused, including CPM District Secretary P Mohanan in the case.
(With Live Law inputs)