Periye murder: parents file plea to transfer appeal to another Bench

Division Bench has reserved judgment on appeal against CBI probe

Following the delay in pronouncing a judgment reserved by a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on an appeal by the State government against an order of a single judge for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Periye twin murder case, the parents of the murdered youth Congress leaders on Monday filed a petition seeking to transfer the appeal to another Bench for fresh hearing.

The appeal was filed against a single judge’s order directing a CBI probe into the killing of Youth Congress workers Kripesh and Sarath Lal in Periye, Kasaragod. The murder took place on February 17, 2019.

It has been nine months and eight days since a Division Bench of Chief Justice S. Manikumar and Justice C.T. Ravikumar had reserved its verdict after conclusion of the arguments on the appeal of the government against the single judge’s directive, the parents said in their petition.

SC ruling

The single judge while ordering a CBI probe had observed that the investigating officer filed the charge-sheet blindly, without conducting any proper and effective investigation to find out the truth. The Supreme Court had ruled that if a judgment was reserved, for any reason, could not be pronounced in six months, any of the parties shall be entitled to move an application before the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned with a plea to withdraw the case and make it over to another Bench for a fresh hearing, the petition pointed out.

Meanwhile, the Division Bench on Monday evening scheduled the pronouncement of the verdict on Tuesday.