Delay in trial: Kerala HC grants bail to fifth accused in Edakkara Maoist case
A bench of Justices V Raja Vijayaraghavan and K V Jayakumar granted bail to Rajeevan on the ground that he has been in detention for the last four years and the trial has not yet commenced, even though charges were framed against him in Jan 2025 by the Special NIA Court in Ernakulam. The bench, while considering his bail plea, directed that he be released on executing a bond for Rs 1 lakh with two solvent sureties each for the like sum.
The court also imposed conditions, including that he shall remain in Ernakulam district until the conclusion of trial and furnish the details of his place of residence to the NIA investigating officer.
Rajeevan, a south zonal committee member of the proscribed terrorist organisation CPI (Maoist), was arrested in Nov 2020, based on information that he had conspired with co-accused inside the deep reserve forests of Malappuram district on various occasions in 2016 to conduct and participate in physical and arms training, collect arms and men and abet waging war against the nation.
The case was later handed over to NIA, and both a charge sheet and a supplementary charge sheet were submitted before the special court, Ernakulam, in 2022.
The bench noted that there are 274 witnesses in the case and that completion of the trial in the near future is highly improbable. Rajeevan has been incarcerated for approximately four years and eight months. HC observed that any further incarceration would amount to a violation of the fundamental right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, and accordingly granted him bail.
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