State Moves Kerala High Court Against Bail Of Accused In SDPI Leader Shan's Murder Case

The Kerala government has moved the High Court challenging the grant of bail to Rajendra Prasad, first accused in the murder of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) State Secretary K.S. Shan who was hacked to death in December 2021.The bench of Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas issued notice on the matter and posted it on June 25 along with similar appeals challenging grant of bail to eight other accused.The prosecution case is that all the 11 accused are members of RSS and they conspired to kill the SDPI member as revenge for the death of three RSS members – Mahesh and Bittu. The accused allegedly collected weapons and on the fateful day, rear-ended Shan's scooter. When he was on the ground, they allegedly hacked him with swords, leading to his death.The State in the petition argues that the bail order ought to be set aside as the bail was granted in a mechanical manner without proper application of mind and arbitrary use of judicial discretion.A Sessions Court in Alappuzha granted bail to the first 3 accused on December 24, 2022 after considering the period they underwent in custody, and likelihood of trial taking long time. The Sessions Judge had also noted that the prosecution raised no objection to grant of bail. On April 05 this year, the Sessions court dismissed State's challenge to bail saying that the order for bail cannot be reviewed as there is no violation of bail condition.Before the High Court, State argues that the bail was granted in a mechanical manner and though bail is rule and jail is exception, such heinous crimes come under exception. State further argued that period undergone in custody and irregular sittings of the court are not reasons for granting of bail, and even if the Prosecutor did not oppose bail, the Court should have applied its judicial mind.Case Name: State of Kerala v Rajendra Prasad @ Andi PrasadCase Number: Crl. M. C. 4707/24

State Moves Kerala High Court Against Bail Of Accused In SDPI Leader Shan's Murder Case

Manju Elsa Isac

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