Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Thursday cast doubts over the judgment of the Wayanad Principal Sessions Court convicting tribal leader M. Geethanandan and three others in the 2003 Muthanga agitation case, observing that the trial court’s findings appeared to contain inconsistencies that warranted closer scrutiny.
Hearing appeals filed by Geethanandan and the three other convicts seeking to set aside their conviction and sentence, the High Court questioned a crucial finding in the trial court judgment.
It asked how a court delivering a final verdict could conclude that only a prima facie case of criminal conspiracy had been established against the accused.
Such an observation, the court indicated, appeared inconsistent with a judgment convicting and sentencing the accused after a full-fledged trial.
Observing that the verdict required a detailed examination, the High Court issued notices to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the state government and posted the appeals for further hearing.
The Sessions Court had only days ago sentenced Geethanandan and three others to five years’ rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine after finding them guilty of attempting to murder police officer Salam during the police operation at Muthanga.
The court had also directed the accused to pay Rs 7 lakh as compensation to the family of police constable K.V. Vinod, who was killed in the violence.
The case arises from the February 19, 2003 police action at the Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary in Wayanad, where tribal families led by C.K. Janu and Geethanandan had occupied forest land demanding implementation of the government’s promise to provide land to landless Adivasis.
The occupation followed the collapse of negotiations after the then A.K. Antony-led state government allegedly failed to honour assurances made following a prolonged Secretariat protest by the Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha.
More than 800 tribal families had erected makeshift shelters inside the sanctuary before the eviction drive culminated in one of Kerala’s bloodiest tribal confrontations.
The High Court’s observations have now raised fresh legal questions over the trial court’s reasoning, setting the stage for a renewed judicial examination of one of Kerala’s most politically and socially significant criminal cases.
(IANS)
