Ahead of the assembly elections in the state, the CPI(M)-led government in Kerala on Wednesday decided to withdraw cases registered in connection with protests against entry of young women at the Sabarimala shrine and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
The Cabinet decided to withdraw all “cases of not serious criminal nature’’ registered related to the Sabarimala and anti-CAA protests, said an official communication.
Police had registered an estimated 17,000 cases, arraigning around 68,000 people from various Hindu outfits as accused, in connection with the Sabarimala protests in 2018 following a Supreme Court verdict allowing entry of young women to the hill shrine. In connection with the anti-CAA protests of 2019, around 530 cases were registered from January to March, 2020. The anti-CAA protests have people from various political and Muslims outfits as accused with the Social Democratic Party of India, the political wing of Popular Front of India, figuring in 170-odd cases.