Professor Hand-chopping Case: Kerala HC Gives Relief to Key PFI Accused

KOCHI:
The Kerala High Court has suspended the sentence of the third accused M K Nasar, who was awarded life imprisonment by a trial court last year for chopping the right palm of Professor T J Joseph, and also gave him bail.

In the court, the prosecution submitted that Nasar was the main conspirator for hatching the conspiracy of chopping the hand and alleged that he was also accused of recruiting persons for terrorism and had monitored and supervised the entire operation.

Hearing Nasar’s plea, a divisional bench, comprising Raja Vijayaraghavan V and PV Balakrishnan, stated that the accused has been in jail for more than nine years after he surrendered in 2015, but the trial did not begin until June 2021, and the judgment was delivered only in 2023.

“The applicant has been undergoing incarceration, at the pre-conviction and post-conviction phases, for over nine years. Furthermore, the fact that the accused facing the same allegations were earlier imposed a lesser term of imprisonment and have been released after having undergone the sentence is a factor that cannot be ignored,” the Court said.

Additionally, the appeals filed by the NIA against the findings of the learned Sessions Judge are being considered in separate appeals, which have not yet been taken up. There is also the likelihood of delay, as the prime accused has surrendered, and the learned Sessions Judge may have to take up the trial and dispose of it in accordance with the law and some of the original records may be required for that purpose. In view of these facts and circumstances, we are of the considered opinion that the sentence imposed on the applicant can be suspended pending the consideration of the appeal,” said the Court.

A total of 31 accused persons faced trial and the trial court convicted 13 accused persons and acquitted the remaining 18 in 2015.

The case pertains to a College professor Joseph, who in July 2010, after attending the Holy Sunday services at a nearby church in his hometown Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district, was returning home.

A group of eight men in an Omni van waylaid him, blocked his car, dragged him out and chopped off his right palm.

The attack on Joseph was on account of a question paper for the second-year B.com students of Newman College in which the Islamists claimed he had used derogatory words against Prophet Mohammed.

The dastardly act that shocked the state was committed by the now-banned Popular Front of India activists after the alleged verdict of an illegal court functioning in Erattupetta in Kottayam district.

Life took a turn for the worse for Joseph, who was sacked from the college by the Christian management. His wife, Salomi committed suicide in 2014 leaving him shattered.

His autobiography, ‘Attupokatha Ormakal’ (Unforgettable Memories) is a hard account of what he had undergone in life and won the Kerala Sahithya Academy award.

It has been translated into English, ‘A Thousand Cuts: An Innocent Question and Deadly Answers’.

The Court further stated, “As the appeal is of the year 2013, and as appeals preferred by the accused undergoing sentence are pending, it may not be possible to take up the appeal and hear the matter soon.

“Furthermore, the appeals seeking enhancement of sentence in the earlier case are also pending,” added the Court.

The Court observed that the long delay in considering the appeal was a favourable factor for releasing the accused on bail and hence the Court suspended the sentence and granted him bail.