The Indian Lawyers' Congress (ILC) has demanded that the case of conspiracy to assassinate former Chief Minister E.K. Nayanar registered by the Town Police here in 1999 be handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as some of the eight accused in the case have been involved in the Kalamassery bus burning case and the Kozhikode twin blasts case.
ILC State president T. Asaf Ali said at a press conference here on Thursday that the Nayanar murder attempt conspiracy case (Crime No. 478/99) was the first case in the State involving suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives. The conspiracy case was no less serious than the Kozhikode blast case and the Kalamassery bus burning case, in which LeT operative Thadiyantavide Nazir and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) chairman Nasir Maudany's wife Soofiya Maudany had been allegedly involved, he said, adding that Nazir, Ismail, Sabir and Tajuddin, four accused in the Nayanar murder attempt conspiracy case, were also involved in the two other terror-related cases. Since these accused had the patronage of Mr. Maudany, the case could not be expected to be impartially investigated by the State police, he said alleging that the State government was protecting Mr. Maudany.
Mr. Ali said all the charges against the accused in the Nayanar murder attempt conspiracy case including sedition and war against the country were scheduled charges as per the NIA Act. Hameed alias Ameer Ali, another accused in the case, Tajuddin and Sabir were also accused in the case of investigation into terror network under trial in the Thalassery court. All terror-related cases involving the LeT activists in the State should be transferred to the NIA, he demanded.
Mr. Ali also said that no prosecution sanction had been given in the Nayanar murder attempt plot case even though the police probed the case during the two years of the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government. The sanction had been given by the United Democratic Front (UDF) government in 2005. Nazir could obtain bail in the case because of the dereliction of the State police under the LDF rule, he added.
ILC State president also termed as baseless Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan's statement that Kerala had the best law and order situation among the States in the country. As per the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) figures provided in response to a query under the Right to Information Act, Kerala was rated 10th among the States that had reported the highest number of cases under the Indian Penal Code in 2007 and 2008, while West Bengal, Orissa and Chattisgarh were rated 11th, 13th and 14th, respectively.
Kerala having 3.18 crore population was also rated sixth and seventh among the States that recorded highest number of crimes under the special and local laws (SLL) in 2007 and 2008. In 2008, Bihar, which had an 8.28 crore population, was rated eighth as far the number of SLL cases was concerned, he added.
Mr. Ali also said the ILC would approach the Supreme Court with a plea that the Governor's Secretariat be heard in the case filed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan questioning the Governor's sanction to prosecute him (Mr. Vijayan) in the SNC Lavalin case.
