'Prima Facie Evidence To Support Charges': Kerala High Court Refuses To Suspend Sentence Of Convicts In 1995 Political Murder Of DYFI Member

The Kerala High Court recently dismissed the applications for suspension of sentence preferred by Rafi and Riaz @ Johny, two convicts in the 1995 political murder of Sakeer, a member of DYFI, the youth wing of CPI(M).

The prosecution case is that the accused, who were workers of Peoples Democratic Party, a rival political party of DYFI, formed themselves into an unlawful assembly armed with weapons and trespassed into the house of Sakeer, the day after he got elected as Chairman of the Thiruvananthapuram Government Law College. Thereafter, they attempted to murder Sakeer's father and attacked Sakeer, causing his death.

The Additional Sessions Court, Thiruvananthapuram had found them guilty of the offences under Sections 294(b) and 302 IPC in its judgment dated April 5, 2025. Appealing against this, they have come before the High Court. They also preferred an application for suspending their sentence.

The Division Bench of Dr. Justice Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Jobin Sebastian remarked that the Sessions Court's judgment considered along with the materials on record, prima facie indicates that the appellants committed the crime.

The appellants/applicants argued that the trial court erred in its conviction of them by considering evidence of unreliable eye witnesses. The prosecution opposed the application and contended that the oral evidence rendered by the father of the deceased, who was also injured, was sufficient to sustain the conviction.

After considering the submissions, the Court thought it fit to dismiss the application.

“A perusal of the impugned judgment, together with the materials on record, prima facie indicates that there is sufficient evidence to support the charges leveled against the accused. The oral testimony of PW2, the father of the deceased and also an injured in the incident, primarily formed the basis for the conviction, and at this stage, there appears to be no reason to disbelieve his evidence. Further, the evidence of other independent witnesses, as well as the testimony of PW19, in whose compound Sakeer was hacked to death, also contributed to the conviction in this case… we have no hesitation in holding that while considering the present application for suspension of the sentence, a re-analysis or re-appreciation of evidence is impermissible and the same can be relegated to be considered at the time of final hearing of the appeal,” the Court remarked.

The appeal is moved by Senior Advocate Sasthamangalam S. Ajithkumar, Sreejith S. Nair, Satheesh Mohanan, Mahima.

Case No: Crl.M.A. No. 1 of 2025 in Crl.A. No. 1079 of 2025

Case Title: Rafi and Anr v. State of Kerala

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