KAAPA-accused BJP councillor's leave: LDF, UDF move Election Commission & LSGD to annul resolution

With the Local Self-Government Department and the Home Department cancelling the unofficial note and the circular on BJP councillor R Sugathan's leave application, the LDF and the UDF have amped up pressure on the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation ruling council to annul the leave granted by the council. Sugathan, a preventive detainee under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (KAAPA), is currently lodged at the high-security correctional facility in Viyyur Central Prison, Thrissur.

The corporation council adopted a resolution on July 31 to grant him leave for six months to avoid his disqualification. Sugathan had not attended the last three council meetings, and without formal leave, he should have been disqualified as per the provisions of the Municipality Act.

While presenting the resolution in the council, Mayor V V Rajesh cited a circular issued by the Home Department which said that Sugathan may approach the corporation via the Prison Superintendent for leave and he may be granted the same with the approval of the council.

The circular kicked up a row, and a departmental probe revealed that LSGD Under-Secretary Chithra Arunima issued an unofficial note, and based on this, the Home Department issued the circular in favour of Sugathan. Later, Chithra was placed under suspension, and the Home Department cancelled the circular. The LSGD also cancelled the unofficial note.

The UDF will file a complaint with the State Election Commission (SEC) on Friday. UDF parliamentary party leader K S Sabarinathan has already filed a complaint with the Corporation Secretary Mohammed Shafi demanding cancellation of the leave granted to Sugathan. He has invoked Section 57 of the Kerala Municipality Act, which empowers the government to suspend and cancel resolutions if it is likely to endanger human life, safety, communal harmony or public peace or if the resolution has been passed illegally or in abuse of the powers conferred by the Act.

LDF parliamentary party leader S P Deepak said the SEC has already sought documents on Sugathan's attendance after a complaint was filed. "I have also met with the LSGD Minister K M Shaji and sought to cancel the resolution. He has assured that a favourable decision will be taken," Deepak told Onmanorama.

BJP has maintained that the provisions in the Act already empower the council to grant leave to the councillors for a period not exceeding six months and that even if the government cancels the circular, the provisions cannot be overruled.