Assembly ruckus case: Trial to begin after 11 years, Sharngadharan is first witness

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The trial in the sensational assembly ruckus case, which stoked a controversy in the state politics, is set to begin after 11 years. The trial in the case will begin on November 3 in the Thiruvananthapuram Chief Judicial Magistrate Court. The court will cross examine Sharngadharan, the first witness in the case and the then assembly secretary, on the first day of the trial.

The incident happened on March 13 in 2015. The strike demanding the resignation of the then finance minister K M Mani following allegations of bribe, ended in the ruckus. LDF MLAs stopped Mani when he came to present the state budget, climbed onto the Speaker's dais, overturned chairs, and created a violent atmosphere in the assembly. The case is that furniture, computers, microphones, and electrical panels were damaged, causing a loss of Rs 2,20,093.

The Museum Police registered the case, naming former MLAs V Sivankutty, E P Jayarajan, K T Jaleel, K Ajith, K Kunjahammed, and C K Sadasivan as the main accused. The former LDF government approached the Supreme Court seeking to withdraw the case, but the plea was dismissed, making the accused to face trial. The Supreme Court rejected the argument that lawmakers have immunity inside the assembly and ordered that they must face trial in the case of destroying public property.