KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday set aside the sentence of three-year imprisonment awarded to a man by the Manjeri Additional Sessions Court for stabbing two men. As per the case, Manjeri native Abdul Rahoof had stabbed two persons for calling him a thief.

While setting aside the conviction, the court took quoted the lines of the famous Malayalam poem 'Moshanam' written by late K Ayyappa Panikker that urged to change the law that brands a person who "steals something good" as a thief. However, the court observed that the concluding portion of the poem is not entirely correct as per section 360(3) of the CrPC.

The case is based on the theft of the motor pump that belonged to Bawa Haji from Manjeri. It was alleged that Rahoof had attacked Zakir and Jafar, both residents of Manjeri, on June 6, 2003, for calling him a thief. Following this, the trial court sentenced Rahoof to three years in prison and fined him Rs 1,000. In his appeal to the High Court, Raouf said that Jafar and Zakir had spread rumours all over the region that he was a thief. However, an amicus curiae appointed by the high court had found that Raouf was also assaulted in the alleged attack. The High Court held that the prosecution had not clarified the matter and that the incident was not as stated by the prosecution. Following this, Rahoof was acquitted.