The Left Democratic Front (LDF) seems intent on changing the political narrative of the high-profile 2015 Assembly ruckus case.
LDF convener E. P. Jayarajan told reporters in Kannur that the Oommen Chandy government's skewed application of law had resulted in the erroneous prosecution of LDF leaders. Mr. Jayarajan hinted the case had Constitutional dimensions and was not merely a straightforward criminal prosecution.
The LDF protest in the House against the then Finance Minister K.M. Mani presenting the Budget in the Assembly was a political act. The legislators had no criminal intent.
Moreover, the Chandy government had breached parliamentary privilege by trespassing on the Speaker's authority. It invited the police to interfere in Assembly matters, thereby diluting the power and eroding the status of the highest law-making body in the State.
Mr. Jayarajan said the Speaker had punished the MLAs by temporarily expelling them from the House. However, the United Democratic Front (UDF) used the police to read a felonious motive into the political objection on the Assembly's floor.
Hence, the UDF government's politically-motivated and conspiratorial police action against LDF legislators was tantamount to double jeopardy.
Moreover, Mr. Jayarajan said Mr. Chandy's then government turned a blind eye to the violence unleashed by the ruling front legislators against Opposition members, including women, on the budget presentation day. The police exempted the UDF members from their investigation at the behest of their political masters.
Mr. Jayarajan said the LDF moved the court to bring criminal charges against UDF legislators who had attacked the Opposition. After a protracted legal battle, a court issued notices to a few UDF leaders.
Mr. Jayarajan is an accused in the case. On Wednesday, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Thiruvananthapuram, R. Rekha, had framed charges in the case. The court process had prompted news headlines, television scrolls and recriminatory discussions by the media commentariat that appeared not to augur well for the LDF's image.
It did not help the LDF that the police had indicted its top leaders for the destruction of public property, mischief and criminal trespass. C.K. Sadasivan and K. Kunhammad, both Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] former MLAs; K. Ajith of the Communist Party of India (CPI); and K.T. Jaleel, an LDF Independent, are the other accused.
