On Thursday, BJP State General Secretary K Surendran was remanded by the Pathanamthitta Judicial First Class Magistrate to 14 days in judicial custody, until December 20, in relation to the case of conspiracy to trap a 52-year-old woman, Lalitha, who arrived at Sabarimala for darshan on November 6.
Surendran was earlier remanded to 14 days of judicial custody in this case by the Ranni Grama Nyaayalaya Court on November 23. Upon the completion of that 14-day period on Thursday, he was supposed to be produced before the Ranni Judicial First Class Magistrate, but as the judicial officials there were unavailable to hear the case, the charge to hear this matter was transferred to the Pathanamthitta Judicial First Class Magistrate, who remanded him to an additional 14 days in judicial custody.
Further, on Thursday, K Surendran’s bail hearing before the Kerala High Court in this case was postponed to Friday. The Kerala High Court also reportedly observed that K Surendran had failed to respect the Supreme Court’s order on Sabarimala entry, and questioned him as to why he had gone to Sabarimala on November 17 in disobedience of the curfew imposed there under sec 144.
Surendran will continue to be held in the Central Jail in Thiruvananthapuram, where he was transferred after he submitted a request to be moved out of the Kottarakara sub-jail where he was originally being held.
Surendran was arrested from Sabarimala hill on November 17 under preventive detention and charged with disobedience of a public officer. Despite receiving bail in this case, he has not been able to leave judicial custody as police found that he was an accused in various other cases, including the November 6 case of a plot to trap 52-year-old Lalitha at Sabarimala, and an earlier 2016 case involving obstruction of road and intimidation of a police officer in Kannur. Surendran, his lawyer, and various BJP loyalists have said that these are false cases being foisted upon him to ensure that he does not leave jail.