Kerala High Court Alters Murder Conviction Of Ex-CPI(M) Leader Who Was Sentenced To Death

The Kerala High Court has set aside the death sentence awarded to former CPI(M) local leader and Chairman of Cherthala Municipal Standing Committee, R. Baiju convicted by the Additional Sessions Judge, Alappuzha of murdering Divakaran, a member of the Indian National Congress. A division bench of Justice P. B. Suresh Kumar and Justice M. B. Snehalatha found that the charge of murder was not proved against him and held he could be found guilty of only culpable homicide not amounting to murder.The incident occurred after an altercation broke out between the parties when a group led by R. Baiju came to Divakaran's house to sell coir mats. The sale was made under a government scheme.The Left Democratic Front was in power at the time in the Municipality and the State. Divakaran said he did not want the mats. which led to an altercation and Baiju left after throwing the mat in front of him. The son of the deceased questioned about this sale in the Ward Council Meeting which elicited a sharp response from Biju. It was stated that at night, the same day, a group of people came to Divakaran's house and assaulted him, his son and daughter-in-law with wooden logs and vandalized their house. Divakaran died from an injury caused to his head.The Court held that the prosecution could not prove that the accused had the intention to commit murder. The court noted that the assailants called out the deceased's son outside of the house, followed him and attacked him and only when the deceased and his daughter-in-law came between them, they were attacked. It was concluded that since the accused did not carry any lethal weapon with them, the intention was to cause grievous hurt to the son of the deceased and not to murder anyone.“The assailants did not carry any lethal weapons and they committed the alleged acts with wooden logs secured by them from the property of the deceased itself. We do not, therefore find any satisfactory material to hold that accused 1 to 4 and 6 had the object of committing the murder of the deceased. If the object of the conspiracy was to commit murder of the deceased, we are of the view that the assailants would have certainly carried sone weapons with them.”The Court also held that even though R. Baiju was part of the conspiracy, it could not be proved that he was present at the place of the incident. However, by virtue of being part of the conspiracy, Baiju was also held liable. The Court said that even if they had no intention of causing death, it is to be presumed that they had the knowledge that the act is likely to cause death. Hence, the High Court held him liable for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.He was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 years with a fine.Counsel for Petitioner: Public Prosecutor Adv. E. C. BineeshCounsel for Respondent: Senior Counsel S. Sanal KumarCase No:DSR No. 4 of 2018 and other connected casesCase Title: State v R. BaijuCitation: 2024 LiveLaw (Ker) 504Click Here to Read/ Download the Order

Kerala High Court Alters Murder Conviction Of Ex-CPI(M) Leader Who Was Sentenced To Death

Manju Elsa Isac

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