BJP state president K Surendran, the primary accused in the Manjeshwar election bribery case, was noticeably absent from the court proceedings on Tuesday in spite of his presence in the district, according to the prosecution.
Similarly, the five other accused in this case also chose not to make an appearance at the Kasaragod sessions court, despite receiving notices to attend the court on September 12. Among these individuals are prominent figures such as BJP state committee member and senior lawyer K Balakrishna Shetty, BJP district secretary Manikanda Rai, BJP’s Manjeshwar constituency secretary Suresha Y, former Yuva Morcha leader and Surendran’s close associate in Kozhikode, Sunil Kumar alias Sunil Naik, as well as party worker Logesh Londa. However, they were represented by their legal counsel during the court proceedings.
This marks the second instance where the accused have failed to appear in court regarding the election bribery case. The sessions court has scheduled September 21 as the next court date for this case and has explicitly directed all the accused to be present on that day.
K Surendran had arrived in Kasaragod on Tuesday as part of his Lok Sabha election campaign, where he intended to meet influential leaders in Manjeshwar.
The charge sheet presented to the court by the Crime Branch accuses the BJP leaders of allegedly kidnapping, intimidating, and bribing BSP candidate K Sundara to withdraw from the Manjeshwar Assembly election in 2021. The charges include invoking the stringent Section 3 (1) (l) (B) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, which pertains to compelling or intimidating a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe community into withdrawing their nomination papers. It’s worth noting that Sundara belongs to the Mogar Scheduled Caste.
When Advocate Balakrishna Shetty sought anticipatory bail in the case, the Kasaragod Sessions Judge, C Krishna Kumar, rejected the request, stating that “there exists a prima facie case regarding the complicity of the petitioner” in the alleged offense. Furthermore, the judge pointed out that if there is a prima facie case under the SC ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, anticipatory bail cannot be granted under Section 18 of the same Act. Shetty, a notary, argued that he had only assisted in preparing Sundara’s withdrawal papers as a lawyer and should not be held responsible.
In 2021, the BJP had a vested interest in Sundara due to his previous performance as an independent candidate, where he garnered 467 votes in the Manjeshwar Assembly election in 2016, during which Surendran narrowly lost to the IUML’s P B Abdul Razak by a margin of just 89 votes. After Sundara’s withdrawal from the election in 2021, BJP leaders welcomed him with a reception at his residence, and the photograph of this event was shared on their Facebook page.
However, Sundara subsequently informed the police and the media that he had been threatened and offered Rs 2.5 lakh along with a smartphone worth Rs 8,000 to withdraw from the election, which he ultimately did. The case gained traction after Sundara made these allegations public following the election, and LDF’s candidate in Manjeshwar, V V Rameshan, filed a police complaint against K Surendran. It’s worth noting that the Badiadka police only registered the FIR following a court directive.
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