The Thodupuzha District Session Court’s dismissal of Electricity Minister M.M. Mani’s discharge petition in a murder case predating to 1982 created a momentary flutter in the Left Democratic Front circles only because of the possible impact it would have on the Pinarayi Vijayan ministry and the apprehension whether the verdict would cause yet another casualty for it.
The acerbic leader from Idukki had been inducted a couple of months back to fill the vacancy caused by another CPI(M) leader of his ilk, E.P. Jayarajan’s resignation under controversial circumstances on charges of nepotism.
The Opposition UDF lost no time in launching a chorus demanding the Electricity Minister’s resignation on the grounds that the court had ruled that the trial should continue. The BJP too joined the UDF in demanding the Minister’s resignation.
The discharge petition related to a case charged against Mr. Mani in connection with speeches he had made when he was district secretary of the CPI(M), claiming that the party had liquidated its political foes in the 1980s, including the murder of a youth Congress leader in 1982.
All the nine persons originally accused in the Anjeri Baby murder case, as it was called, had been acquitted by the time Mr. Mani made the controversial statement. The UDF government reopened the case in 2012. He was arrested and had to spend 44 days in jail before the High Court granted him conditional bail.
The LDF argument is that Mr. Mani need not resign since there was nothing new in the court verdict. At the time of his induction, it was a well known fact that he was an accused in the case which was pending before the lower court and there is no material difference in the prevailing situation.
However, CPI(M) sources admit that the court’s directive to include two other CPI(M) leaders, K.K. Jayachandran, incumbent Idukki district secretary, and A.D. Damodaran, CITU leader, was indeed an embarrassment.
The Opposition rejected the LDF contention, stating that the court ruling had upheld the charge that Mr. Mani was prima facie guilty in the case. Moreover, the ruling was against a Minister, making it all the more serious because of the challenge to the rule of law it posed.
Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy were sharp in their reactions to the verdict.
The BJP found similarities in the case against mr. Mani and the SNC Lavalin case which was now before the High Court in the form of a petition challenging the acquittal of all the accused, including Mr. Vijayan.
Its leaders, including V. Muraleedharan, felt that the CPI(M), by allowing Mr. Mani to continue in office, was trying to create a precedent that did not require ministers to resign in the backdrop of adverse court rulings.
