THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the High Court ruling that the accused must face trial in the assembly ruckus case, the government will be using the strategy of prolonging the trial as much as possible. The government is likely to receive two setbacks if a speedy trial is held in the case. Minister V Sivankutty and KT Jaleel MLA may lose their official positions if they are punished for two years in the criminal case. The government can attempt to delay the trial by not presenting the accused and witnesses in court to avoid such immediate setbacks.

The LDF government had gone up to the Supreme Court to withdraw the case and failed. Now, the same government has to run the case to secure punishment for the accused. This case is a rare one where the government is simultaneously the plaintiff and the accused. Deputy Director of Prosecutions Balachandra Menon, appointed by the government, will have to plead to convict the minister. The then Legislative Assembly Secretary PD Sharangadharan is the first witness. The FIR was registered on his complaint. The then MLAs and the watch and ward are witnesses. It remains to be seen how many police officers will testify against the minister and the MLA. In the petition filed in the Supreme Court to withdraw the case, the government had argued that the investigation team had not recorded the statements of all the officials present in the assembly and that the prosecution had only a remote possibility to prove the case.

The footage from the assembly is strong digital evidence. With the court directing that the footage captured by the legislature secretariat be admissible as evidence, the government is also worried about the future of the case. There is also a possibility that more MLAs may be named as accused if the footage is checked. The trial court has the power to name more persons as accused under Sections IPC-109 and CrPC-319.