Kerala Assembly disrupted over custodial death

The Kerala Assembly today witnessed noisy scenes over the recent 'custodial death' of a man from Kochi, with opposition UDF members disrupting the proceedings leading to early adjournment of the House.

Trouble began when Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan denied permission to the Congress-led opposition to raise the issue during the zero hour, stating that as per the legislative rules, the discussion could not be allowed on a matter that is pending before the court.

The opposition alleged that the government was trying to "protect" the accused police personnel who were allegedly involved in the death of 27-year-old Sreejith, a native of Varapuzha in Kochi and the investigation was in 'standstill.'

Sreejith, who was taken into custody in connection with the death of a 55-year-old man, died in a private hospital on April 9.

His relatives had alleged that Sreejith had died after being tortured in custody, a charge denied by the police.

The 'custodial death' of Sreejith had triggered widespread protest and outrage across the state.

"If we cannot take up a heinous crime like this in the House, why should we sit in the Assembly?" Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said while strongly disapproving the decision of the Speaker to deny the notice for the motion.

He also argued that the Assembly had the precedence of discussing several issues including the solar and bar bribery cases in the zero hour, while the matter were before the court.

But, the Speaker stood his ground saying he could go only by the rule book and the discussion could not be allowed as the matter was sub-judice and would come up before the High Court on June 13.

Justifying the Speaker's decision, Law Minister A K Balan also said it was not an issue to be brought as an adjournment motion as the incident happened on April 9.

"Not only that, the government has done everything possible in the case," he said, rejecting the opposition charge that there was an attempt to protect the accused police personnel.

The House also witnessed heated war of words between the treasury and opposition benches when the latter trooped to the well of the house and blocked the view of the Speaker by holding a banner with anti-government slogans.

As the agitation continued and the repeated plea for cooperation failed to evoke positive response, the Speaker hurriedly went through other businesses and adjourned the House for the day.

(PTI)