The Court of Additional District Judge here appointed an amicus curiae for further hearing on the maintainability of a petition seeking a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into a plot to assassinate late former Chief Minister E.K. Nayanar.
The petition was filed by State president of the Indian Lawyers' Congress (ILC) T. Asaf Ali. After completion of preliminary hearing on the petition, judge K. Babu appointed advocate O.G. Premaraj as amicus curiae and posted further hearing of the matter on January 1.
The petitioner sought orders directing the State and Central governments to have the case (FIR No. 478/1999) registered by the Town Police Station here for further investigation by the NIA. The gist of the FIR was that eight accused in the case had conspired together to wage war against the Government of India by exterminating Ministers and other political leaders with an aim to bail out People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader Abdul Nasir Maudany from Coimbatore jail and to assassinate then Chief Minister E.K. Nayanar to wreak vengeance for the handing over of Mr. Maudany to the Tamil Nadu police. The petitioner said that the offences mentioned in the FIR were offences of high treason affecting the security, integrity and sovereignty of the country.
The petitioner said that despite seven year long investigation, the State government's investigating agency could not identify some of the accused in the case even at the time of filing final report. It was now revealed that four of the named accused, Thadiyantavide Nazir, Hameed, K.P. Sabir, K.V. Tajudheen and Ismail were involved in four other terror-related cases including twin blasts in Kozhikode, the Kalamassery bus burning case and the case registered at the Edakkad police station of recruitment of Keralite youths to terrorist outfits. These cases had now been taken over by the NIA, he said.
The Nayanar murder attempt plot case also had possible connections with activities including fake currency circulation and infiltration from across the border, the petitioner said. Nazir, the second accused in the case is a hardcore operative of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, an outfit listed in the schedule of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967. Moreover, the offences alleged in the murder attempt conspiracy case are also scheduled offences under the NIA Act 2008, he said. In view of the newly unfolded evidence against the accused in the case, any further probe into the case is possible only by the NIA, he added.
