Thiruvananthapuram: A court here on Wednesday rejected a discharge petition moved by half a dozen Kerala legislators, including General Education Minister V Sivankutty, over the sensational 2015 assembly ruckus case against them.
Sivankutty and the other accused in the Kerala Assembly ruckus case pleaded before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Thiruvananthapuam, that they were merely protesting that day.
Videos of the incident from 2015, in which the LDF legislators, creating a pandemonium had gone viral. They were seen throwing the Speaker's chair, besides damaging computers and keyboards inside the assembly, to prevent then finance minister KM Mani from presenting his budget.
However, the counsels representing the accused – Sivankutty, K T Jaleel, E P Jayarajan, K Ajith, K Kunhammad and C K Sadasivan – had claimed that they did not break the law.
They had argued that their sole aim was to obstruct the budget speech and that the reported property damage was a result of pushing and shoving inside the House.
The accused had also claimed that the media had blown the incident out of proportion.
With the discharge applications getting rejected, the accused legislators will have to face trial in the court. However, they have the option to file an appeal against the verdict in the High Court.
Now, all six accused will have to appear before the court on November 22.