The Special Additional Sessions Court (Marad cases) at Eranhipalam here will on Tuesday decide the quantum of punishment for those convicted in the murder of Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader T.P. Chandrasekharan at Onchiyam on May 4, 2012.
Judge R. Narayana Pisharadi had on Wednesday found 12 persons, including three leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) K.C. Ramachandran (8th accused), member of the Kunnummakkara local committee; Manojan aka Trouser Manojan (11th accused), former branch secretary of Kadanganpoyil; and P.K. Kunhanandan (13th accused), member of the Panur area committee, guilty of the crime.
The first seven accused, namely M.C. Anoop, Manoj Kumar aka Kirmani Manoj, N.K. Sunil Kumar aka Kodi Suni, T.K. Rajeesh, K.K. Mohammed Shafi, Annan Shijith, and K. Shinoj who took part in the killing, were found guilty under Section 302 (murder), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), and 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The accused second to seventh were also found guilty under Section 148 (rioting, armed with weapons).
Besides, Kirmani Manoj and Kodi Suni were found guilty under Sections 3 (punishment for causing explosion likely to endanger life or property) and 5 (punishment for making or possessing explosives under suspicious circumstances) respectively of the Explosive Substances Act.
Ramachandran, Manojan, and Kunhanandan were found guilty under Section 120 (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder) of the IPC while P.V. Rafeeque (18th accused) was found guilty under Section 109 (punishment of abetment if the act abetted is committed in consequence and where no express provision is made for its punishment) and M.K. Pradeepan aka Lambu (31st accused) under Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence or giving false information to screen offender) of the IPC.
Arguments on the quantum of punishment were heard on Thursday from the prosecution and defence.
Statements recordedThe court also read out the offences punishable under the IPC to the convicts and recorded their statements.
Special prosecutors C.K. Sreedharan and P. Kumarankutty argued that the killers should be awarded death penalty while counsel for the defence argued that the case could not be considered in the rarest of the rare category.
