High Court Rejects DGP's 'Organised Crime' Claim Against CPI(M) Workers in ED Protest Case

Thiruvananthapuram: The UDF government has suffered a major setback in a case filed against CPI(M) workers who had protested against Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials in Thiruvananthapuram. The High Court rejected the DGP's claim that the protest against ED officials amounted to organised crime. The court asked who had sustained serious injuries during the protest and where the corresponding medical records were. The court was hearing pleas filed by the state government and the ED seeking to cancel the bail granted by the Thiruvananthapuram Sessions Court to the ninth accused in the case, Harish Kumar.

The prosecution had argued that certain weapons still needed to be recovered, citing this as grounds for keeping the ninth accused in custody. The court, however, asked the government what the police had been doing during the 27 days the accused had already spent in judicial custody. It also questioned how an unused weapon could be recovered from an accused person. The single bench of Justice C S Dias made clear that notice would be issued to the accused, and that bail could not be cancelled without first hearing his side of the case.

The court also rejected the government's claim that bail had been granted because the prosecutor had colluded with the accused. Justice Dias said no judge passes an order in any case merely on the basis of what a prosecutor says, adding that he had personally read the court order in question. The case will be taken up again on July 13.

The protest had erupted following a dramatic raid conducted by ED officials at the Thiruvananthapuram residence of Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan, which led to the case being registered.