- The Kerala HC has, in K.P.Sasikala vs State of Kerala and ors. recently dropped all proceedings against Hindu Aikya Vedi leader KP Sasikala for allegedly triggering a dawn-to-dusk hartal in the State to protest the entry of women in the Sabarimala temple in 2018.
- This hartal had resulted in a large-scale vandalism against which a PIL was moved before the Kerala HC to fix liability for all the damage that had been caused. The State Police Chief had issued a circular to all District Police Chiefs to make the leaders of the organisations who called the hartal as co-accused in the present case.
- Sasikala was arrested in pursuance of this order on her way to Sabarimala in January 2018 under the suspicion that she had intended to spark protests against women entering the temple. When the temple had opened twice after the Supreme Court’s decision to allow women to enter the temple, Sasikala was near the temple organising protests and checking documents of the women wanting to enter the temple.
- The Counsel for the petitioner alleged that there was no allegation that Sasikala had either participated or abetted the crime. The Counsel for the State strongly opposed the application by arguing that it was the public statement issued by the petitioner Sasikala that had kindled numerous acts of violence throughout the State.
- At the outset the Court noted that the basic rule of criminal jurisprudence is that there must be legal evidence to inculpate a person in a crime. The Court also observed that there was no evidence on record to suggest that the petitioner had made a statement in the media or that the accused had done something in furtherance of her statements.
- From the report that was dated 20-03-2019, it became clear to the Court that the petitioner was arrested because of an observation that was made by the Kerala HC that the leaders of the political parties who called for hartals should also be made accused in the case.
- After going through the evidence on record, the Court observed that the petitioner was nowhere in the picture. None of the witnesses had stated that she had abetted or instigated the commission of the offence. Her presence at the temple was also not noted by any witness. Thus, it could not be said that she had shared the common object of unlawful assembly in committing the crime or that she was involved in any criminal conspiracy with the other accused.
- Continuing with the prosecution of the case, according to the Court, would be an abuse of process and a futile exercise, and hence, using its extraordinary powers under Article 226 of the Constitution or Section 482 CrPC, the proceedings against Sasikala were dropped.
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