The Kerala Prisons Department’s plan to remit sentences of 1911 convicts, including 11 convicts in the T P Chandrasekharan murder case and that of Mohammed Nisham, convicted in the Chandrabose murder case has attracted ire from various corners.
An RTI reply from the Prisons Department has revealed that the list had 1911 names and it included those convicted in high profile and controversial cases. Last year, a list consisting of 1850 out of 1911 names was sent to the Governor. The Governor returned the list to the government questioning the need to remit sentences of people convicted for heinous crimes. When the controversy had first broken out, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the assembly that no hard-core criminals would be included in the list to remit. The CM who also handles the home portfolio had told the assembly that only those who had completed 14 years in the life imprisonment could be considered for remission and so TP Chandrasekharan murderers would not be.
"It would be highly irresponsible for any Chief Minister to lie in the Assembly. Speaking in the Assembly is not like a political speech made at a public place. He should be very responsible while talking in the legislative body. If he lied, it implies that he deliberately wanted to hide the truth. It could be treated as an offence," said Shajir Khan an education activist and leader of Socialist Unity Centre of India.
The Congress also flayed the CM alleging that he tried to suppress the truth while speaking in the Assembly. The criticism from many quarters that CPI (M) had conspired to kill T P Chandrasekharan, has made the Congress sharpen its criticism. Chandrasekharan was a former leader of the party who later parted ways owing to difference of opinion and floated a political outfit called Revolutionary Marxist Party. Chandrasekharan’s murder is a chapter that the CPI (M) won’t be able to write off in a hurry. "Now the truth has come to light that the government tried to remit sentences of convicts in T P Chandrasekharan murder case. By doing this, the CPI (M) has openly admitted that they conspired to kill T P. Pinarayi misled the Assembly saying that the government hadn't tried to remit sentences of the accused in this case. Action could be initiated against him for lying in the Assembly," said Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee vice president M M Hassan.
Some believe that the CM’s statement is a blotch on the sanctity of the law making body. Congress leaders reiterated their allegation that Pinarayi Vijayan wasn’t mature enough to handle the CM portfolio and was still acting like the secretary of the CPI (M). “There is certain sanctity to the Legislative Assembly proceedings. All the legislators are committed to reveal facts. But it’s sad that there is no difference between Pinarayi Vijayan’s speech outside and inside the Assembly. Whenever he has to answer in accordance with the constitution or on legal grounds, he makes it political. He has to verify facts and he should be briefed properly before answering questions in the Assembly. He has told the Assembly that the government won’t remit the sentence of those convicted for brutal crimes. Were the murders of Chandrabose and T P Chandrasekharan not brutal?” asked K S Sabarinathan MLA.
"The CM has misled the Assembly. It’s disrespectful to the law making body. The Speaker should initiate action against the CM for this or he should apologise to the people and the Assembly. The government should thoroughly check before preparing such a list. Only those who have completed ten years in prison should be considered for early release. But the list had names of convicts who have completed just three or four years in prison," said BJP leader M T Ramesh.