Kerala HC stays conspiracy case against Swapna Suresh

Kochi (Kerala) [India], April 12 : The Kerala High Court on Wednesday stayed the conspiracy case registered against Kerala Gold Smuggling Case accused Swapna Suresh and Kannur native Vijesh Pillai.

A case was registered at the Taliparamba police station in Kerala's Kannur district for allegedly hatching a conspiracy and for levelling false and defamatory allegations via Facebook against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his family and also against MV Govindan state secretary of Communist Party of India, Marxist (CPIM).

The case was registered on the basis of a complaint by CPIM Taliparamba area secretary Mohan Raj under sections 120B, 153, 464, 469 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Swapna and Vijesh.

In a recent Facebook Live, Swapna alleged that Vijesh had approached her as an emissary of CPIM state secretary MV Govindan and threatened her and offered her Rs 30 crore as a settlement to withdraw the allegations against the chief minister and his family.

While staying the case, the Single Bench of Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas observed, "Swapna Suresh is being harassed personally by the state government."

Mohan Raj in the petition alleged that the "levelling of false accusations was a fraudulent act by the duo (Swapna and Vijesh) in furtherance of a larger conspiracy at the behest of certain anti-social elements."

The petition also alleged that the duo conspired to put out an outrageous Facebook live knowing fully well it would cause serious repercussions on the whole society and would also induce some sections to commit offence against the state and some others may get provoked which would result in riots.

Swapna has been continuously raising many such allegations against the CM and others, including the sitting and former ministers, and several criminal cases have been registered against her in this regard.

"The statements made by Swapna on different occasions as a part of a larger conspiracy were widely used by the opposition parties as a political weapon and large-scale violence and public outrage had taken place at various parts of the state. More than 745 cases were registered in various police stations in the state in connection with this", reads the petition.

Mohan Raj in the petition also added, "The defamatory Facebook live was telecast by Swapna and subsequently, the visuals were sent to news channels which was also widely spread on social media in which a visual of the conversation between Swapna and Vijesh without audio was recorded with an intention to mislead the viewers and make them believe that such a conversation at the behest of Govindan has taken place between the two accused."