Kerala High Court quashes Assembly vandalism case against Congress leaders

The Kerala High Court recently quashed the criminal proceedings against three former Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) from the Congress party, MA Vaheed, Dominic Presentation, and K Sivadasan Nair in the 2015 Kerala Legislative Assembly vandalism case [MA Vaheed v KK Lathika & anr and connected cases]..The case concerns the ruckus that took place in the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 2015, when opposition party leaders tried to prevent the then Finance Minister KM Mani from presenting the Budget, in the wake of allegations that he was involved in the bar bribery case.The Congress MLAs who tried to stop the protestors were later accused of outraging their modesty and unlawfully restraining them.On September 13, Justice PV Kunhikrishnan concluded that the Congress leaders did not intend to commit any such offence and that their actions were aimed at fulfilling constitutional duties.The Court said that the intent behind the actions of the Congress MLAs was to enable the Finance Minister to present the Budget in the Assembly, which is a constitutionally mandated duty. 'Presenting budget in assembly is a constitutional duty of the finance minister. None has a right to obstruct him. Therefore, I am of the considered opinion that even if the petitioners (congress leaders) obstruct the complainant from proceeding in the direction in which the Minister is coming to present the Budget, the complainant has no right to proceed in that way," the Court said..The Court added that one can protest against the presentation of the Budget in the Assembly in a peaceful manner but cannot hinder the Finance Minister from fulfilling his constitutional duty."I am of the considered opinion that there can be protest in a democratic manner even in the assembly against the presentation of budget by the Finance minister. But there cannot be any obstruction from the side of the 1st respondent in presenting a Budget in a State Assembly by a Finance Minister. That is a constitutional duty of the Finance Minister. There is no law to the effect that, a finance minister against whom a case is registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act cannot present a budget in the Legislative assembly.".On March 13, 2015, during a heated Assembly session, members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)/ CPI (M) protested against the United Democratic Front (UDF) government (led by the Congress party).They targeted Finance Minister KM Mani demanding his resignation and also demanded that he should not present the State Budget 2015- 2016.The complainants KK Lathika, Jameela Prakasham and a few other woman MLAs from LDF stood before the door through which the Ministers usually entered the house and started raising slogans.Amid the chaos, Congress MLAs were accused of physically restraining the women LDF legislators to prevent them from obstructing the budget presentation.Prakasham alleged that Sivadasan grabbed her waist and held her close to him preventing her movement, while Dominic helped him and yelled at her. Lathika on the other hand accused Vaheed of pushing her and making inappropriate physical contact. The Magistrate took cognizance of these complaints and criminal proceedings were initiated against Congress MLAs (petitioners). The petitioners then approached the High Court seeking to get these proceedings quashed. .The Congress leaders argued that the Legislative Assembly is a public forum, and they were merely performing their roles as legislators in a tense political situation. There was no intention to commit any offence, they said. The complainants countered that the Congress leaders went beyond their legislative responsibilities and used unlawful physical force.The Court concluded that while force may have been used, it was done in the context of ensuring the Budget was presented and not to harm or humiliate the complainants.Therefore, it quashed the criminal proceedings against the former MLAs.MA Vaheed was represented by Senior Advocate George Poonthottam.Dominic Presentation and K Sivadasan Nair were represented by Senior Advocate S Sreekumar assisted by advocates Arun B Varghese and Joseph P Alex.Advocate M Rajagopalan Nair appeared for KK Lathika.Advocate Gilbert George Correya appeared for Jameela Prakasham.Public Prosecutor Sangeetharaj NR appeared for the State..[Read Order]