The Special Additional Sessions Court (Marad Cases) on Tuesday rejected another petition by the prosecution seeking to initiate perjury charges against a hostile witness in the T.P. Chandrasekharan murder case.
R. Narayana Pisharadi, special judge, dismissed the petition against K.A. Abdulla of Kannangodu on the grounds that the retraction by Mr. Abdulla of his statement had not led to the acquittal of the accused.
During his deposition before the trial court in April 2013, Mr. Abdulla denied seeing the investigators seize the passport and a photostat copy of the voter’s identity card of P.K. Kunhanandan, member of the Panur area committee of the CPI(M), from his house. Subsequently, the court declared him hostile.
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Kunhanandan was named 13th accused in the case. The court had found him guilty of hatching the plot and engaging a hired gang to kill Chandrasekharan. He was awarded life imprisonment and fined Rs.1 lakh.
Earlier, the prosecution had filed a petition against Mr. Abdulla under Section 193 (punishment for false evidence) of the Indian Penal Code.
The prosecution had moved applications seeking to bring perjury charges against 22 hostile witnesses under Section 340 (procedure in cases) of the Code of Criminal Code. As many as 52 witnesses had turned hostile during the trial. Lawyer Saphal Kallaramkettil appeared on behalf of the prosecution.
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Meanwhile, the court released the motorbike used by Chandrasekharan (KL-18-A-6395) after his wife, K.K. Rema, moved an application. The motorbike would be in the interim custody of Ms. Rema. The vehicle should not be sold or transferred to another person.
The court will decide on taking up perjury charges against hostile witnesses C. Sandeep and Prakashan Niranjanayil. The court also served notices on other hostile witnesses, K. Vasantha, mother of Annan Shijith, convicted for life; M. C. Ajesh Kumar, brother of M.C. Anoop, first accused in the case; and Sharlet Varghese, who was a receptionist with Lindas Lodge, Koothuparamba.