Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 27 (IANS) Kerala’s opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday accused the police of following two standards of justice, one for the rich and influential and another for the poor, citing the death of a street food vendor in a hit-and-run accident at Cheranalloor.
Jayabalakrishnan, 55, was killed around 2.30 a.m on Sunday at Cheranalloor when the Mercedes-Benz car driven by a minor, son of a judge, hit him.
The police initially booked less serious offences, and the accused secured bail, triggering allegations of police lapses and unequal justice.
Vijayan told the Assembly that the police had failed to change their attitude despite Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala taking a strong stand over an earlier accident at Nedumbassery.
Serious questions have been raised over the initial police response, the charges in the FIR and the grant of bail to the accused.
Vijayan said the government claimed that it did not support unequal treatment.
However, he asked whether it was taking the situation seriously enough.
“The police are not even accepting the words and position taken by the Home Minister,” he told the Assembly.
Vijayan referred to the question raised by Jayabalakrishnan’s daughter over whether the rich and ordinary people were treated differently under the law.
“That child had to ask whether there is one standard of justice for the rich and another for people like them. This happened even before the funeral pyre had cooled,” he said.
He described the question as serious and the situation as both sad and humiliating.
The opposition leader said the incident had further weakened public confidence in the police.
He argued that the Home Minister’s strong words alone would not be enough if the police continued to act in the same manner.
The controversy has put the state government’s handling of the case under scrutiny.
Chennithala told the Assembly that there had been serious police lapses and that he had personally reprimanded the Director General of Police after learning that the FIR had not initially included the appropriate charge of culpable homicide.
The Home Minister said he had ordered action against all officers responsible for the lapses, including those allegedly involved in deleting material from a mobile phone and those who failed to include the relevant legal provisions in the FIR.
He also said the government had approached a higher court seeking cancellation of the accused’s bail.
Chennithala maintained that nobody was above the law, regardless of family background or influence.
He said legal action had also been initiated against the vehicle’s owner, who is the accused’s father and a judge, and that the High Court Registrar had been formally informed.
The case has triggered sharp exchanges in the Assembly, with members questioning whether ordinary citizens receive the same treatment as those with money and influence.
Vijayan’s intervention has added to the pressure on the government to ensure accountability.
The central question is whether the action promised by the Home Minister will translate into concrete steps against the officers responsible and a fair legal process for the victim’s family.
For Jayabalakrishnan’s family, the issue is not merely the death of a breadwinner, but whether the law will treat their loss with the same seriousness it would show in a case involving the powerful.
–IANS
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