Kerala High Court Stays Proceedings Against BJP's K Surendran In 2019 Hartal Violence Case

The Kerala High Court on Monday (February 23) stayed all criminal proceedings initiated against Bharatiya Janata Party leader K. Surendran in relation to a 2019 crime perpetrated during a flash hartal.Justice C.S. Dias admitted Surendran's plea to quash criminal proceedings against him and issued notice to the parties. The judge then passed an interim order staying further criminal proceedings against Surendran for a period of 4 months:“On a consideration of the facts and the materials on record, particularly after going through the allegations in…final report, as against the petitioner, I am satisfied that the petitioner is entitled to an interim order. Hence, I stay all further proceedings…as against the petitioner, for a period of four months.” Surendran is the 9th accused in a crime registered before the Manner Police Station and pending on the file of the Magistrate Court, Chengannur. The prosecution allegation is that the accused nos. 1 to 3 armed with weapons intercepted a car in which the de facto complainant and his friends were travelling in and manhandled them. Subsequently, 12 more accused were implicated in the crime, including Surendran. According to the plea, accused nos. 4 to 15 were arrayed as accused solely for allegedly abetting the crime on the ground that they had called for a hartal on the said date.In the Final Report, it is stated that the subsequently added accused were arrayed pursuant to an interim order of the High Court dated 07.01.2019 and in compliance of an order in 2019 issued by the Inspector General of Police, Kochi Range. As per this order, directions were issued to array as accused the leaders that had called for the observation of a hartal/flash hartal and to conduct further investigation in the matter.Surendran was served with summons of the Court in October 27, 2025 for appearance on February 27, 2026. Stating that the no material exists to even prima facie indicate that he is culpable, Surendran sought to quash the case against him.After perusing the final report, the Court thought it felt appropriate to grant an interim stay of the criminal proceedings.The petition is moved by Advocates S.V. Girishkumar, S. Biju (Kizhakkanela), Achuth Krishnan R., Parshathy S.R., Govind P., Cristy Therasa Suresh.Case No: CrlMC 1651 of 2026Case Title: K. Surendran v. State of Kerala and Ors.Click to Read/Download Interim Order

Kerala High Court Stays Proceedings Against BJP's K Surendran In 2019 Hartal Violence Case

K. Salma Jennath

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