In a case of assault on a judge in Belonia, South Tripura district, during a strike organised by the CPI(M) in 2015, a local court in Tripura sentenced three CPI(M) officials to two years in prison on Thursday. Later, the three were freed on bond. CPI(M) leaders Trilokesh Sinha, Babul Debnath, and Tapas Dutta have been charged with assaulting South Tripura District and Sessions Court Judge Ruhidas Paul under IPC sections 447 (criminal trespass), 353 (assault to deter public servants from performing their duties), 506 (criminal intimidation), and section 34 (criminal intimidation) (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).
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Under section 447 (criminal trespass), the judicial magistrate’s court found them guilty and sentenced them to two months in jail and a fine of Rs 5,000, as well as two years in prison under section 353. “Judicial Magistrate Mitra Das condemned the three suspects to two years of punishment,” Public Prosecutor Krishna Majumder told reporters. After their defence counsel notified the judge that they will appeal the judgement to a higher court, the three were released on bond. Basudeb Majumder, secretary of the CPI(M) South Tripura district committee, stated the Communist party has already filed a plea in district court disputing the judicial magistrate’s decision and that “all legal fights will be waged.”
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The prisoners were released on bail and must file an appeal against their conviction within 30 days, according to a top Tripura Police officer. Nabendu Bhattacharya, a spokesman for the Tripura BJP, said the court’s decision has provided justice after the Left’s political violence. He said that during the Left Front’s control, incidences of violence were hushed up and that the truth was revealed via legal proceedings.
