On Wednesday, the Pathanamthitta Magistrate Court granted conditional bail to BJP State General Secretary K Surendran, who was taken into preventive custody from Nillakal at Sabarimala on Saturday. He was remanded to 14 day judicial custody. The court while granting the bail has said that the BJP leader cannot enter Ranni taluk in Pathanamthitta district for two months. The Sabarimala temple is situated in the taluk and the court's stipulation means that K Surendran cannot go near the temple before it closes on January 21.
K Surendran’s lawyer, advocate Haridas, told TNM, “The bail conditions are that he cannot enter Ranni taluk, where Sabarimala is located, for a period of two months, and the posting of two sureties as bond, amounting to Rs 20,000 each.”
69 others, who were arrested from Sabarimala Sannidhanam on Sunday night for defying prohibitory orders, have also been granted conditional bail, and the conditions for their bail are also the same as K Surendran’s.
However, despite being granted conditional bail in this case for which he was arrested from Sabarimala, K Surendran might not be released immediately from Kottarakara sub-jail, where he is currently being held, due to another pending case against him in Kannur. When asked about this, Adv Harikumar said, “We do not know if a warrant in that case has been submitted. It was a road obstruction case. We have to see if a warrant has been given, in which case there will be some further discussions and formalities to be completed before he can be released from jail.”
K Surendran had been arrested on Saturday under Sec 151 of the CrPC, which deals with preventive custody to maintain law and order, and taken to Chittaar police station. He was further charged under IPC 353, which is the non-bailable offence of using criminal force to deter a public servant from doing their duty.
His overnight stay at Chittaar police station had become the source of another controversy, after K Surendran told media persons that he had been mistreated in the police station, and further, that his irumudikettu (the holy bag of offerings that Ayyappa devotees carry) had been thrown on the ground and stamped on by the police.
However, Chittaar police officials later told TNM that K Surendran himself had thrown his irumudikettu on the ground. Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran also posted CCTV footage from Chittaar police station, and another video from a cell phone camera of the scene at which this incident allegedly occurred. The video footage seemed to negate K Surendran’s allegations, as it appears to show that K Surendran was the only one holding the irumudikettu when it fell to the ground.
Meanwhile, BJP State President Sreedharan Pillai’s case, regarding his controversial statements about the Sabarimala Thanthri Kandararu Rajeevaru consulting him about his alleged plan to close the Sabarimala temple doors if any women entered the temple, has been adjourned to 29 November.