Kochi: The Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court on Thursday directed all 16 accused in the 2018 Abhimanyu murder case to appear in person on August 10 after allowing the prosecution’s plea to invoke an additional charge under Section 323 of the Indian Penal Code (voluntarily causing hurt) against them.

The additional charge will be formally read out to the accused when the case comes up for hearing on August 10. The court incorporated the charge after accepting a plea moved by Special Public Prosecutor G Mohanraj on behalf of the prosecution.

During Thursday’s proceedings, Principal Sessions Judge KK Balakrishnan expressed strong displeasure over the absence of the accused, observing that the delay comes despite the Kerala High Court’s recent direction to conclude the trial within four months. The court directed all 16 accused to be present in person on the next posting date.

The latest development comes days after the Kerala High Court reiterated its direction to the trial court to complete the proceedings and pronounce its verdict within four months while considering a petition filed by Abhimanyu’s mother, Bhoopathy, seeking an expeditious trial.

The HC had initially, on January 24, 2025, directed the trial court to dispose of the case within nine months. However, after the deadline expired, the trial court sought additional time owing to procedural stages in the case and judicial transfers. Considering the request as well as Bhoopathy’s fresh plea, the HC recently granted a final four-month deadline to conclude the trial.

During Thursday’s proceedings, advocates KS Arunkumar and Devika KR, who represented Bhoopathy before the HC, filed a vakalat on behalf of Abhimanyu’s brother, Parijith, who is the 18th prosecution witness in the case. The trial court accepted the vakalat.

The trial court had earlier, on July 6, 2026, framed charges against the first 16 accused, all of whom pleaded not guilty.

They are facing charges including murder, voluntarily causing hurt with dangerous weapons, criminal intimidation, destruction of evidence, rioting and unlawful assembly. The court had also dismissed discharge petitions filed by six accused after finding sufficient grounds to proceed with the trial, while rejecting a plea by the first accused, JI Mohammed, seeking the return of the chargesheet.

With the inclusion of Section 323 IPC, the revised charges will now be read out to all 16 accused on August 10 before the trial proceeds further.

Although police filed the chargesheet in September 2018, the trial has witnessed years of delays due to legal challenges, repeated petitions by the defence, delayed surrender of absconding accused and procedural setbacks.

The proceedings suffered a major setback when 11 crucial judicial records, including the original chargesheet, post-mortem report and key witness statements, went missing from the trial court’s custody. Following directions from the HC, the prosecution reconstructed the missing records using certified copies, enabling the trial to resume.

Abhimanyu, a native of Vattavada in Idukki district, was a second-year BSc Chemistry student at Maharaja’s College, Kochi, and the unit secretary of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI).

He was fatally stabbed on the college campus on July 2, 2018, during a violent clash between activists of the SFI and the Campus Front of India (CFI), the student wing of the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI). The clash reportedly stemmed from a dispute over campus graffiti. Two other SFI activists, Arjun and Vineeth, were also seriously injured in what investigators have described as a pre-planned armed attack.

The murder sparked statewide outrage and reignited debate over political violence on college campuses.