Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday stayed the Kasaragod Sessions Court order acquitting BJP Kerala state president K Surendran in the Manjeswaram election bribery case. The court also issued a notice to Surendran and stayed the discharge of five other individuals involved in the case.
It was on October 5, the lower court acquitted Surendran of the offences under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, following a petition they filed in September 2023. "Since the first accused is discharged of the alleged offences, I do not find any grounds to proceed against the other accused also. Hence, they are also discharged of all the alleged offences," the sessions court said. The Kerala government then filed a counter-plea on the verdict, in which the HC made the recent order.
The case stems from a complaint filed in 2021, accusing Surendran and two BJP leaders of bribing a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate with cash and a smartphone to withdraw his nomination from the Manjeswaram assembly constituency during the 2021 elections, where Surendran was the BJP candidate. The complaint was lodged by CPM's V V Ramesan, the party's candidate in Manjeswaram. The BJP leader was charged under provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, which are non-bailable, and under sections 171 (B) and (E) (Bribery) of the IPC.
The police registered the case based on an order from the Kasaragod First Class Magistrate. The case was later handed over to the Crime Branch. Surendran, however, lost the election from Manjeswaram in the polls. IUML's A K M Ashraf won the seat with 65,758 votes, while Surendran bagged 65,013. Ramesan got 40,639 votes.
