Ambalappuzha: A court here has ordered a case to be registered against Kerala Minister G Sudhakaran in a petition filed by his former personal staff member and CPI(M) branch secretary Usha Sally for insulting her in public. The Ambalappuzha First-Class Magistrate also asked the minister to be present in court on March 29 on charges of insulting womanhood.
Usha alleges in her complaint that Sudhakaran disparaged her while speaking to another leader at a public event. She claims that the minister’s comment that she “eats up all her salary” was defamatory to her.
Usha is CPI(M)’s former branch secretary from Kottaravalavu, Thottappalli, and the zonal president of All-India Democratic Women’s Association.
The plea says legislator Sudhakaran verbally abused her during the inaugural function of Thottappalli Krishnanchira-Lakshmithoppu Road construction on 28 February 2016. The expenses for the road came from the MLA’s special development fund. The plea says Sudhakaran, who reached the venue before schedule, abused her for the small turnout.
Sudhakaran was only an MLA when the alleged incident happened.
Usha had approached the police earlier, but the plea was dismissed for lack of eyewitnesses. She then approached the court. The Kalarcode Gram Nyayalaya Court transferred the case to the Magistrate Court. Both Usha and her husband A M Sally, who was the Ambalappuzha area committee member of the CPI(M), were ousted from the party a week after the 2016 incident.
