The Kerala High Court pulled up the Kerala government for granting excessive and frequent parole to CPI(M) leader PK Kunjananthan, who is currently serving a life sentence for the 2012 murder of political leader TP Chandrasekharan. PK Kunjananthan was listed as the 13th accused in the murder of Chandrasekharan, and had been sentenced to life imprisonment in January 2014 by a Special Additional Sessions Court in Kozhikode.
Since his conviction, he has enjoyed over 400 days of being out on parole in four years. This includes 217 days between May 25, 2015 and June 8, 2017. Kunjanathan had been let out on parole once again in September 2018 allegedly for medical reasons, and filed repeated extensions to prolong the length of his parole.
Responding to the LDF government’s contention that Kunjanathan had been let out on parole for medical treatment, the High Court stated that if he was unwell, the correct response was not to let him out of jail on parole, but to provide him medical treatment, which was the duty of the state.
The court issued a notice to Kunjanathan in this regard, and has asked the government to file a response on the matter within two weeks.
Chandrasekharan’s wife, KK Rema, had moved the High Court on Wednesday asking for Kunjananthan’s parole to be canceled. KK Rema in her petition pointed out that Kunjanathan had been participating in party activities when he was released on parole from Kannur Central Jail, where he is supposed to be held.
She also alleged that he had been visiting his home every month, and that parole was only to be granted in the event of death or marriage of the convict’s close relative or the destruction of the convict’s house, as per Rule 400 of the Kerala Prisons and Correctional Services Rules. She told The New Indian Express that that the government had granted Kunjanathan parole in contradiction of these rules, and that this was a sign of political influence working in his favour.
She also previously told TNM on the issue that the CPI(M)-led Kerala government feels that since they are ruling the state, no one will question them. The CM who controls the Home Ministry has a huge role in helping the convict.”
TP Chandrasekharan was hacked to death in 2012, three years after he broke away from the CPI(M) to form the splinter group, Revolutionary Marxist Party in 2009.