The Ranni magistrate court in Pathanamthitta on Saturday afternoon rejected BJP State General Secretary K Surendran’s plea for a relaxation of his bail conditions in order to conduct darshan at Sabarimala. The Ranni court rejected the plea citing that the circumstances that necessitated his bail conditions, which included that he must not enter Pathanamthitta district, remained in place.
On December 7, the Kerala High Court had granted K Surendran bail in a case of attempting to trap a woman devotee at Sabarimala on November 5. He was granted bail on the condition that he could not enter Pathanamthitta district for a period of two months, or engage in any disruptive activities at Sabarimala.
The Ranni magistrate court had also granted K Surendran bail on November 21 after he was taken into preventive detention from Nilakkal at Sabarimala, and charged with using the non-bailable offence of using criminal force to obstruct a public officer, on November 17. His bail conditions in that case included the posting of two sureties as bond, and that he could not enter Ranni taluk for a period of two months.
K Surendran approached the High Court, on January 15, asking for a relaxation in his bail conditions to conduct darshan at Sabarimala for the Makaravilakku festival. The government pled that Surendran’s visit there was planned to precipitate protests in the temple at a time when 35 lakh pilgrims were expected to arrive for the temple’s festival.
The HC through Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V had rejected the petition and directed him to approach the Ranni magistrate court for a relaxation of his bail conditions. The High Court had also directed the government to file a report on the matter.
Surendran is expected to move the HC once again challenging the Ranni magistrate court order.