CHENNAI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Friday urged the State government to withdraw cases filed against members of various democratic organisations who had staged peaceful protests seeking justice in the Pollachi sexual assault case.
The appeal was made during a meeting between CPM state secretary P Shanmugam and Chief Secretary N Muruganandam at the State Secretariat.
The CPM delegation, comprising of the party’s state secretariat member K Samuelraj, stated that activists from the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), and other affiliated groups had been unfairly targeted with legal action despite their non-violent demonstrations demanding the arrest and prosecution of the accused. With the court having now convicted all the accused in the case, the party argued that continuing legal proceedings against the protesters was unjustified.
In addition to this, the delegation raised two other key issues. It sought the State Government’s intervention to expedite the appeal in the Udumalpet honour killing case, which has remained pending before the Supreme Court for over five years. The party also requested that district administrations halt the removal of party flagpoles until the High Court delivers its verdict on an appeal filed by CPM against such actions, in a case related to the judiciary’s earlier order over the issue.
CPM leaders said that the Chief Secretary assured of action.