NIA to appeal against court verdict in TJ Joseph case, wants enhanced term for culprits

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency has decided to appeal against a Kerala court verdict in the case of the chopping of the palm of Professor TJ Joseph in 2010 by the activists of the Popular Front of India over an alleged blasphemous question paper prepared by him.

NIA officials said the agency is not satisfied with the May 8 verdict that awarded an eight-year jail sentence against 10 accused and acquitted 18 others in the case.

"We will file an appeal pressing for enhancement of punishment till life imprisonment for the 10 accused who have been sentenced to only eight years in jail. We will also appeal against the acquittal of at least five out of the 18 accused persons as we feel there is adequate evidence against them," an NIA official dealing with the matter told ET.

The home ministry has cleared NIA's proposal for an appeal to be filed before Kerala High Court in the next few days. The NIA special court judgment on May 8 significantly upheld the agency's terrorism charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 against the accused who were sentenced to eight years in jail, which is a first in a case against the activists of a non-proscribed organisation, officials said.

They said the court judgment had recorded that the NIA counsel had sought maximum punishment, arguing that the accused "had no feeling of remorse" and hence deserved no leniency. The defence counsel had argued, however, that the case "could not be equated with the Parliament attack case or Mumbai blast case" and that the accused had no criminal background, as per the judgment studied by the NIA.