Kerala High Court Suspends Life Sentence Of Former BJP Leader Padmarajan In Palathayi Rape Case
The Kerala High Court on Thursday (August 20) suspended the life sentence awarded to former BJP leader Padmarajan K. @ Pappan mash in the Palathayi rape case.
In November last year, the Fast Track Special Court, Thalassery (Kannur) had found him guilty of rape of a 4th standard student while he was a Malayalam teacher in the U.P. School in Palathayi.
The Division Bench comprising Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V. and Justice K.V. Jayakumar allowed the sentence suspension application filed by Padmarajan and enlarged him on conditional bail.
The Court was of the prima facie view that the victim's testimony had many inconsistencies and, seemed embellished and fanciful on a preliminary analysis. It also took note of the fact that the scene of occurrence, which was a toilet in the school, was very close to the classrooms.
The Court took note of the fact that one of the doctors who examined her did not find any evidence of sexual abuse whereas the second doctor had opined that the hymen tear could have been caused by scratching with a finger due to fungal infection. It was further noticed that initial investigation by the local police and later, by the Crime Branch, had rendered two different conclusions about the alleged sexual assault.
"we are of the considered view that the contentions put forth by the learned counsel for the applicant are weighty and cannot be brushed aside in a cursory manner. Prima facie, we find some merit in the argument advanced by the learned counsel for the applicant. We are of the view that the applicant has made out a good case on merits in the appeal, and the grounds urged by him are compelling. Though it is premature to enter into a conclusive finding regarding the merits of the contention of the applicant that he is innocent, we are convinced that the applicant has made out an arguable case. We are convinced that insofar as the conviction of the applicant is concerned, there is some infirmity in the order of conviction that renders the order of conviction prima facie erroneous."
The prosecution allegation was that Padmarajan committed aggravated penetrative sexual assault and rape on the victim girl (PW1) aged 10 ½ years inside the school toilet on three occasions.
The trial court had found him guilty of the offences under Sections 376AB, 376(2) (f), 354B of the Indian Penal Code and Sec. 5(f), (l) and (m) r/w 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 and had sentenced him to undergo life imprisonment for the offence under Section 376AB IPC.
The appeal is moved by Advocates S. Rajeev, V. Vinay, M.S. Aneer, Sarath K.P., Anilkumar C.R., K.S. Kiran Krishnan, Dipa V., Akash Cherian Thomas, Azad Sunil, T.P. Aravind, Akshara S., and Maheswar Padickal.
Advocates Sooraj T. Elenjickal and Nanda Surendran are appearing for the victim's mother. Public prosecutor Sareena George appeared for the State.
Case No: Crl.A No. 2327 of 2025
Case Title: Padmarajan @ Pappan Mash v. State of Kerala & Anr.