The court has sentenced the ten accused in the murder case of Youth Congress workers Sharat Lal and Kripesh. The ten accused in the case have been sentenced to double life imprisonment. Accused 1 to 8 and 10 and 15 have been sentenced to double life imprisonment. A fine of Rs 1 lakh has also been imposed.
Former Uduma MLA K.V. Kunhiraman and other accused have been sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of Rs 10,000 by the court. The verdict is from the Kochi CBI special court. There were 24 accused in the case. Of these, 10 were acquitted by the court.
Adv. C.K. Sreedharan, who appeared for the defense, had requested that the accused be heard once again before the verdict in the case. The court heard the accused as part of the procedure. The defense lawyer pointed out that they were not habitual criminals. Moreover, the defendants demanded that this was not a rare case and that the sentence should be reduced. The defendants should be given an opportunity to change their minds. The defense argued that the statements given by the witnesses in the case were not beyond doubt. The defense opposed the prosecution’s argument that the death penalty should be given to the accused, pointing out that the High Court had given life imprisonment even in the Delhi blast case in which 13 people were killed.
