Kerala police advised not to 
register case against Kurien

The advice was given by Director-General of Prosecutions Asif Ali. He said there were no fresh evidences against the senior Congress leader and a case could not be registered on the basis of the old allegations.

The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government sought the legal advice after the victim filed a complaint with the Chingavanam police in the light of the fresh revelations made by third accused in the case advocate Dharmarajan.

Dharmarajan, who had jumped parole while serving imprisonment in the case, had told a private television channel that he had taken Kurien to the 16-year-old girl at the Kumily Guest House on February 19, 1996. He was later arrested by the police from Karnataka and lodged in Poojappura central jail. The victim, who is 33 years old now, has indicated moving the court against the police officials for refusing to accept her complaint, which was filed under the provisions of the new ordinance relating to crimes against women. Incidentally, the women’s wing of the Communist Party of India (CPI) has approached the high court for a probe into the alleged involvement of Kurien in the case.

A petition in this regard was filed by Kamala Govind, state secretary of the Mahila Sangham. The high court may consider the petition on Tuesday. The court on Monday adjourned to March 4 hearing on the applications filed by 17 accused for bail as per the directions of the Supreme Court. While quashing the high court order acquitting the 34 accused in the case, the apex court had asked them to surrender.

A division bench comprising Justices K T Shankaran and M L Joseph Francis adjourned the hearing as the appeal and records about the case had not been received from Supreme Court. The judges said they could not proceed without perusing them. According to the accused, the apex court had not gone into the merits of the case and the judgement was passed on technical grounds. First accused Rajan and fifth accused Cherian said in their bail applications that there was no material against them to prove the charges.

In a related development, the police filed a case against a person for a ‘defamatory’ post on Facebook against Kurien. Another 110 persons are under the scanner for sharing the comment. The action was initiated under Section 66 A of the Information Technology (IT) Act on a complaint filed by Kerala Mahila Congress member Bindu Krishna.

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