Abhimanyu Murder Case: Ernakulam Court Orders All Accused to Appear on August 10

Kochi: The Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court has directed all accused in the Abhimanyu murder case to appear in person on August 10, stressing that there will be no exemption from personal appearance.

The court also accepted the prosecution's request to add Section 323 of the Indian Penal Code, relating to voluntarily causing hurt, to the charges against the accused. The prosecution argued that some of the accused who assembled unlawfully had physically assaulted and injured witnesses by pushing and hitting them during the incident, and that the charge should be made applicable to all the accused.

Principal Sessions Judge K.K. Balakrishnan issued the directive while referring to the Kerala High Court's order requiring the trial to be completed and judgment delivered within four months.

The court will read out the supplementary charges, including the newly added provision, to the accused on August 10. The schedule for the trial is also expected to be finalised on the same day.

Although the defence counsel submitted that some of the accused would find it difficult to appear before the court, the request for exemption was rejected.

Special Public Prosecutor G. Mohan Raj appeared for the prosecution.

Advocate K.S. Arun Kumar, who represented Abhimanyu's mother, Bhoopathi, before the High Court, has now filed his case on behalf of Abhimanyu's brother, Parijith Manoharan, before the trial court. Parijith is listed as the 18th prosecution witness in the case.