Thiruvananthapuram, Congress-led opposition UDF on Tuesday accused the Kerala Assembly speaker of being "afraid" to discuss the issue of the Left government reportedly considering remission of sentence of some of the convicts in the sensational case. of TP Chandrasekharan murder of 2012.
Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan accused Speaker AN Shamseer of being scared after he was prevented from completing his speech after denying permission to the UDF's motion to adjourn the House to discuss the issue. .
Shamseer denied permission to the UDF's motion, moved by Congress's Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, saying it was clear that the government has made no attempt to grant remission to any of the convicts in the case.
The Speaker, however, allowed the issue to be raised in the House as a presentation.
Responding to the president's decision, Satheesan said it was "inappropriate" for Shamseer to say what the state government should have said.
He said the opposition has evidence that the government considered granting remission to some of those convicted in the case.
"We have a letter from the government addressed to the police commissioner seeking a report on the grant of remission," he said.
While Satheesan was speaking, Shamseer said that LoP cannot be allowed to continue speaking on the issue as it has been raised in the House several times and subsequently his microphone was switched off.
Responding to the stance taken by the spokesperson, Satheesan alleged: "You are scared."
After that, many UDF MLAs trooped into the well of the House shouting slogans against the Speaker and stood in front of his dais.
They also shouted slogans against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the ruling CPI(M) in the state.
The protesting MLAs also carried banners, some of which read "you can kill, but you cannot defeat."
As the protesting MLAs did not heed the Speaker's repeated requests to return to his seats, Shamseer said the House will continue with its business.
Subsequently, the House approved the demands for subsidies in the Budget for the financial year 2024-2025 under the headings of Public and Medical Health and Family Welfare.
The Speaker later concluded the day's debates and said the House would resume on Wednesday morning.
The Kerala government's reported decision to grant remission to three of the 12 life convicts in the 2012 TP Chandrasekharan murder case sparked a political storm in the state on Saturday, where the Congress-led UDF and the BJP criticized the Left administration for him.
The UDF had said it was a "strange" decision by the government as considering the convicts for remission would be a violation of the High Court verdict that denied them the same.
The opposition had also said that this clearly indicates that the government was trying to protect the criminals who killed Chandrasekharan by hacking him 51 times.
UDF MLA and Chandrasekharan's widow K K Rema expressed shock over the development and said it was "unexpected" as there was a High Court order prohibiting any remission of the convicts.
Imposing life imprisonment on 12 convicts in the case, the High Court, in its February 27 order, said nine of them would not be eligible for remission before serving 20 years in prison.
Of the nine, T K Rajeesh, K K Muhammed Shafi and S Sijith are the three convicts who are reportedly being considered for remission.
Rema had said that the jail superintendent alone could not have taken this decision without the knowledge and support of Chief Minister Vijayan, who is also in-charge of the Home Department.
The BJP had said the government's move was not surprising.
Chandrasekharan (52), leader of the Revolutionary Marxist Party, was hacked to death by a gang while returning home on a bicycle.
The then United Democratic Front (UDF) government in Kerala constituted a special investigation team to investigate the case.
Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan accused Speaker AN Shamseer of being scared after he was prevented from completing his speech after denying permission to the UDF's motion to adjourn the House to discuss the issue. .
Shamseer denied permission to the UDF's motion, moved by Congress's Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, saying it was clear that the government has made no attempt to grant remission to any of the convicts in the case.
The Speaker, however, allowed the issue to be raised in the House as a presentation.
Responding to the president's decision, Satheesan said it was "inappropriate" for Shamseer to say what the state government should have said.
He said the opposition has evidence that the government considered granting remission to some of those convicted in the case.
"We have a letter from the government addressed to the police commissioner seeking a report on the grant of remission," he said.
While Satheesan was speaking, Shamseer said that LoP cannot be allowed to continue speaking on the issue as it has been raised in the House several times and subsequently his microphone was switched off.
Responding to the stance taken by the spokesperson, Satheesan alleged: "You are scared."
After that, many UDF MLAs trooped into the well of the House shouting slogans against the Speaker and stood in front of his dais.
They also shouted slogans against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the ruling CPI(M) in the state.
The protesting MLAs also carried banners, some of which read "you can kill, but you cannot defeat."
As the protesting MLAs did not heed the Speaker's repeated requests to return to his seats, Shamseer said the House will continue with its business.
Subsequently, the House approved the demands for subsidies in the Budget for the financial year 2024-2025 under the headings of Public and Medical Health and Family Welfare.
The Speaker later concluded the day's debates and said the House would resume on Wednesday morning.
The Kerala government's reported decision to grant remission to three of the 12 life convicts in the 2012 TP Chandrasekharan murder case sparked a political storm in the state on Saturday, where the Congress-led UDF and the BJP criticized the Left administration for him.
The UDF had said it was a "strange" decision by the government as considering the convicts for remission would be a violation of the High Court verdict that denied them the same.
The opposition had also said that this clearly indicates that the government was trying to protect the criminals who killed Chandrasekharan by hacking him 51 times.
UDF MLA and Chandrasekharan's widow K K Rema expressed shock over the development and said it was "unexpected" as there was a High Court order prohibiting any remission of the convicts.
Imposing life imprisonment on 12 convicts in the case, the High Court, in its February 27 order, said nine of them would not be eligible for remission before serving 20 years in prison.
Of the nine, T K Rajeesh, K K Muhammed Shafi and S Sijith are the three convicts who are reportedly being considered for remission.
Rema had said that the jail superintendent alone could not have taken this decision without the knowledge and support of Chief Minister Vijayan, who is also in-charge of the Home Department.
The BJP had said the government's move was not surprising.
Chandrasekharan (52), leader of the Revolutionary Marxist Party, was hacked to death by a gang while returning home on a bicycle.
The then United Democratic Front (UDF) government in Kerala constituted a special investigation team to investigate the case.
