Madrassa teacher’s murder: Kerala Govt issues order to approach high court on appeal

Facing intense criticism over the acquittal of RSS activists in the sensational madrassa teacher murder case, the Kerala government issued an order on Tuesday sanctioning the filing of an appeal in the high court to challenge the trial court’s decision.

The decision to approach the higher court was taken based on legal opinion received in this regard, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Bishwanath Singha said in today’s order.

“As per the legal opinion, sanction is accorded for filing appeal before the High Court of Kerala against the judgment of acquittal passed by the Court of Sessions Judge, Kasaragod,” the order said.

Mohammed Riyas Maulavi, a 34-year-old muezzin (a person who proclaims the Islamic call to prayer) and a madrassa teacher from Choori near Kasaragod, was found murdered in his room in the mosque on March 20, 2017.

The court in Kasaragod on Saturday acquitted three RSS activists in the case, saying the prosecution was not able to prove that the accused had any kind of enmity with the Muslim community.

Kasaragod Principal Sessions Court Judge K K Balakrishnan on Sunday acquitted Akhilesh, Nidhin, and Ajesh, all three residents of Kelugude, in the case.

The LDF government came out with a quick decision to approach the high court against the verdict, as the opposition Congress started targeting the government in its ongoing Lok Sabha poll campaign over the issue.

The Congress has continued to criticise the state government over the verdict and demanded a reinvestigation into the case by a high-level police team.

KPCC acting chief M M Hassan said the case should be reinvestigated as the court itself made it clear that the police and the prosecution had failed.

In a statement, he also questioned the state government’s decision to approach the high court against the present verdict and asked what was its use after all evidence had been sabotaged in the trial court.