The Special Additional District Sessions Court (Marad cases) has been entrusted with the trial in the case of the murder of Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader T.P. Chandrasekharan at Onchiyam here on May 4.
Principal District Judge P. Ubaid issued orders making over the case (SC No.867/12) to the Marad Special Court at Eranhipalam under rule 77 (2) of the Criminal Rules and Practice in Kerala. Previously the Vadakara First Class Judicial Magistrate Court, which was the inquiry court on October 9 committed the case to the District and Sessions Court under Section 209 (commitment of case to court of session when offence is triable exclusively by it) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The case relates to a section of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] leaders in Kozhikode and Kannur districts hatching a plot and engaging a seven-member killer gang to finish off Chandrasekharan who had left the party and had floated a dissident outfit, posing a stiff challenge to the party in the Lok Sabha elections in 2009 and three-tier local body polls in 2010.
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As many 76 persons, including P. Mohanan, member of the Kozhikode district committee of the the CPI(M), Karayi Rajan, member of the Kannur district secretariat, P.K. Kunhanandan, member of the Panur area committee, and C.H. Ashokan, secretary of the Onchiyam area committee, were charge-sheeted in the case. Some of the accused are out on bail with stringent conditions.
One of the accused, K.K. Mohammed Sahir, charged for helping the assailants, jumped bail to escape to the Gulf. Another accused, T.M. Rahul, charged with more serious offences, such as abetment and concealing the conspiracy had escaped to Bahrain during the investigation stage.
Legal sources said that committing the case from the Principal Sessions Court to the Marad Special Court was only a normal procedure and does not mean that the trial would be conducted on a fast track basis. However, the State government could seek the intervention of Kerala High Court for a speedy disposal.
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Meanwhile, special prosecutor C.K. Sreedharan will appear in the High Court on Monday when the bail application of Kunhanadan comes up for hearing before it.