THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In an effort to put pressure on the government to take legal action against former speaker K. Radhakrishnan for revealing the name of the Wadakkancherry gang rape victim, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala on Monday wrote a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan demanding legal actions against Mr Radhakrishnan. Legal experts have also said that Mr Radhakrishnan’s actions amounted to violation of the Indian Penal Code as well as various directives of the Supreme Court against revealing identity of rape victims. The CPM Thrissur district secretary had revealed the name of the victim at a press conference last week.
In the letter, Mr. Chennithala told the Chief Minister that Mr Radhakrishnan has violated Section 228 (A) of the Indian Penal Code. As a person who held many high-profile posts, it could not be inferred that he was ignorant of the law. He could attract up to two years imprisonment and fine for this breach of law. "The delay on the part of the police in initiating legal action against Radhakrishnan even after several days could be considered only as a dereliction of duty on the part of the police," Mr Chennithala said.
Even as legal experts opined that Mr. Radhakrishnan has violated IPC 228(A) as well as Supreme Court verdicts, there are different opinions citing the context in which he revealed the name. "Radhakrishnan mentioned the name while stating the allegations raised by CPM's leader P.N. Jayanathan against her. Hence a legal scrutiny would be required to see if Radhakrishnan could be held liable considering the context," said senior lawyer Cherinyoor Sasidharan Nair.
