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 (LoP) in the State Assembly V D Satheesan accused Speaker A N Shamseer of being scared after the Speaker stopped him from completing his speech after denying permission to the UDF's motion to adjourn the assembly session. chamber to discuss the topic.
Shamseer denied permission to the UDF motion moved by Congress's Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, saying it was clear that the government had made no attempt to grant remission to any of the convicts in the case. The president, however, allowed the question will be raised in the House as a presentation.
Responding to the speaker's decision, Satheesan slammed Shamseer's comments as "inappropriate", saying it was not the speaker's duty to speak on behalf of the state government.
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 granting 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 turned off.
Responding to the stance taken by the speaker, Satheesan alleged, "You are scared."
After this exchange, many UDF MPs 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," the substance of Ernest Hemingway's famous line in the novel "The Old Man and the Sea."
As the protesting MLAs did not heed the speaker's repeated requests to return to their seats, Shamseer said the house would continue with its business. Subsequently, the House approved the requests for grants in the budget for the financial year 2024-2025 under the heads of Medicine and Public Health and Family Welfare.
The spokesperson later concluded the day's debate and said the house would resume on Wednesday morning.
Later, the opposition held a press conference on the issue at the assembly press room where they told reporters that the state government was allegedly afraid of those convicted in the case. Satheesan said that the government was scared because the convicts were allegedly They were blackmailing them by threatening to reveal the conspiracy behind Chandrasekharan's murder.
He also said that in 2018, the government passed an order that said those convicted of political murders will not receive remission until they complete 14 years of imprisonment.
"In 2022, the government passed a new order by which this ban was removed and also paved the way for granting more parole to these convicts," Satheesan alleged. He said if the government goes ahead with this measure, Kerala will witness protests like never seen before and the CM and other ministers will not be able to go out.
LoP MP P K Kunhalikutty and Chandrasekharan's widow K K Rema also criticized the government's decision at the press conference.
Rema also said that the opposition will also meet the Governor to discuss this issue. The alleged decision of the Kerala government to grant remission to three of the 12 life convicts in the TP Chandrasekharan murder case in 2012 sparked on Saturday a political storm in the state, where the Congress-led UDF and the BJP criticized the Left administration over him.
The UDF had said this was a "strange" decision by the government as considering the convicts for remission would be a violation of the Supreme Court ruling denying it.
The opposition had also said that this clearly indicates that the government was trying to protect the criminals who hacked Chandrasekharan 51 times to kill him. Imposing life imprisonment on the 12 convicted in the case, the High Court, in its order dated 27 February, 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 earlier 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 that the government's move was not It was surprising.
Chandrasekharan (52), leader of the Revolutionary Marxist Party, was hacked to death by a gang while cycling home in 2012.
The then United Democratic Front (UDF) government in Kerala had constituted a special investigation team to investigate the case.
Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the State Assembly V D Satheesan accused Speaker A N Shamseer of being scared after the Speaker stopped him from completing his speech after denying permission to the UDF's motion to adjourn the assembly session. chamber to discuss the topic.
Shamseer denied permission to the UDF motion moved by Congress's Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, saying it was clear that the government had made no attempt to grant remission to any of the convicts in the case. The president, however, allowed the question will be raised in the House as a presentation.
Responding to the speaker's decision, Satheesan slammed Shamseer's comments as "inappropriate", saying it was not the speaker's duty to speak on behalf of the state government.
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 granting 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 turned off.
Responding to the stance taken by the speaker, Satheesan alleged, "You are scared."
After this exchange, many UDF MPs 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," the substance of Ernest Hemingway's famous line in the novel "The Old Man and the Sea."
As the protesting MLAs did not heed the speaker's repeated requests to return to their seats, Shamseer said the house would continue with its business. Subsequently, the House approved the requests for grants in the budget for the financial year 2024-2025 under the heads of Medicine and Public Health and Family Welfare.
The spokesperson later concluded the day's debate and said the house would resume on Wednesday morning.
Later, the opposition held a press conference on the issue at the assembly press room where they told reporters that the state government was allegedly afraid of those convicted in the case. Satheesan said that the government was scared because the convicts were allegedly They were blackmailing them by threatening to reveal the conspiracy behind Chandrasekharan's murder.
He also said that in 2018, the government passed an order that said those convicted of political murders will not receive remission until they complete 14 years of imprisonment.
"In 2022, the government passed a new order by which this ban was removed and also paved the way for granting more parole to these convicts," Satheesan alleged. He said if the government goes ahead with this measure, Kerala will witness protests like never seen before and the CM and other ministers will not be able to go out.
LoP MP P K Kunhalikutty and Chandrasekharan's widow K K Rema also criticized the government's decision at the press conference.
Rema also said that the opposition will also meet the Governor to discuss this issue. The alleged decision of the Kerala government to grant remission to three of the 12 life convicts in the TP Chandrasekharan murder case in 2012 sparked on Saturday a political storm in the state, where the Congress-led UDF and the BJP criticized the Left administration over him.
The UDF had said this was a "strange" decision by the government as considering the convicts for remission would be a violation of the Supreme Court ruling denying it.
The opposition had also said that this clearly indicates that the government was trying to protect the criminals who hacked Chandrasekharan 51 times to kill him. Imposing life imprisonment on the 12 convicted in the case, the High Court, in its order dated 27 February, 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 earlier 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 that the government's move was not It was surprising.
Chandrasekharan (52), leader of the Revolutionary Marxist Party, was hacked to death by a gang while cycling home in 2012.
The then United Democratic Front (UDF) government in Kerala had constituted a special investigation team to investigate the case.