Almost 11 years after BJP leader Jayakrishnnan Master was brutally murdered in front of his students in a classroom in Kannur, the perennial foes CPI(M) and BJP have come to an out-of-court settlement on the issue of releasing the convict in the case.
Jayakrishnan Master's mother, Mrs Kausalya, withdrew the petition she had filed before the Kerala High Court against the release of the CPI(M) activist, Acharup- arambath Pradeepan, the lone convict in the murder case.
The previous LDF government had decided to release Pradeepan whose death sentence was commuted by SC. Following this, Mrs Kausalya moved the HC through lawyer and BJP leader, Mr P.S. Sreedharan Pillai, objecting to his release.
She said in her petition that Pradeepan’s release would be against the norms laid down by the Supreme Court. Further, he also posed a threat to her life, she said.
Sources said the government then decided to release a few BJP activists serving life sentences in connection with political murders as a quip pro quo of sorts.
Pradeepan was released this February. Soon after that, Mr Pillai withdrew his engagement in the case and another advocate took over.
“I relinquished myself from the case due to some personal reasons” Mr Pillai said. And in the last week of August, the petition was withdrawn which repotedly was owing to the agreement reached between CPI(M) and BJP.
The hacking of Jayakrishnan Master in front of students by CPI(M) activists in Kannur (1999) had shocked the conscience of the state.