The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:
The surfacing of fresh evidence in the Suryanelli gangrape case
concerning the involvement of P.J.Kurien comes in the background of the
Supreme Court orders annulling the acquittal of 35 men by the Kerala
High Court in 2005 and ordering a reexamination of the case. It should
be noted that Kurien had got the benefit of this flawed judgement of the
High Court when his petition not to be included as one of the accused
was accepted by the High Court and Supreme Court in 2007. A
reinvestigation is essential and Kurien should step down from his post
of Dy. Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, till it is over.
The Kerala Government is adopting double standards by not ordering a
reinvestigation into the case against Kurien. Only recently it had
ordered reinvestigation into two cases of murder dating back decades,
which had been decided through the judicial process including, in one of
the cases, upto the Supreme Court.
The CPI(M) appeals to the Congress leadership to view this matter in
the proper perspective. This is not an issue being raised for
party-political purposes. The whole country is seriously concerned and
agitated about the alarming rise in sexual crimes against women.
Parliament is to discuss laws concerning sexual violence against women.
At such a juncture, when a rape victim has leveled a serious charge
against P J Kurien and fresh evidence has come to light, will it be
proper for him to continue in the post of Dy. Chairman of the Rajya
Sabha? It becomes incumbent for him to resign. If not, he should be
removed from the post of Deputy Chairman.
