HC dismisses accused’s plea to keep Abhimanyu murder trial in abeyance

The Kerala HC has dismissed a petition filed by the five persons accused in the 2018 murder of SFI leader Abhimanyu near the Maharajas College campus, seeking to keep the trial in abeyance until the police completes the probe against the other accused persons and files the chargesheet against them. The petitioners approached the HC, challenging an order of the Ernakulam Sessions Court that had rejected a similar plea they filed to defer the trial.

While dismissing their petition on Tuesday, a Bench of Justice G. Girish held that there was no legal basis to stay the trial, merely because the investigation against another set of accused, who reportedly harboured the prime accused after the crime, is still pending. While the allegations against the petitioners relate to the alleged criminal conspiracy, the fatal attack on Abhimanyu and assaults on other SFI activists on July 2, 2018, those against the remaining accused were confined to harbouring the offenders and helping them evade arrest. The pending investigation would thus not prejudice the ongoing trial.

The demand of the petitioners to keep the trial in abeyance, pending completion of the investigation against the remaining accused, can only be considered as an attempt to procrastinate the trial. Moreover, the HC had earlier directed the Sessions Court to dispose of the trial within nine months, after Abhimanyu’s mother filed a petition seeking speedy disposal of the case. The trial court is thus bound to comply with that direction, the HC added, thus clearing the way for the Sessions Court to proceed with the trial.

The prosecution submitted that the accused, who were Campus Front activists, conspired to facilitate the organisation’s entry into the Maharaja’s College campus, by unleashing violence against SFI activists. Abhimanyu, who was a degree student then, had been stabbed to death during the attack, while several other students sustained injuries. Those who approached the HC, challenging an order of the Sessions Court were Muhammed J.I., Arif Bin Salim, Bilal Saji, Farokh Amani and Rajeeb P.M.