The Kerala government has decided to withdraw cases against former legislators in the infamous Kerala Assembly Brawl case. A case was registered against 6 LDF MLAs for damaging public property. However, when the LDF came to power in 2016, V Sivankutty, one of the accused, wrote to the Chief Minister alleging political vendetta. The LDF government then decided to withdraw the cases after consultation with the law department.

The 6 accused LDF MLAs accused were KT Jalaal, Kunjahammed Master, K Ajith, C K Sadasivan, E P Jayarajan and V Sivankutty. Violence ensued in the Kerala Assembly during the presentation of the budget by then Finance Minister of Kerala K.M. Mani. LDF legislators broke mikes, threw chairs, climbed atop tables and even threw the Speaker’s chair into the well of the House. The Police had to resort to water cannons and lathis to disperse the LDF workers that had gathered outside the Assembly.

Thiruvananthapuram: Uproar in Kerala Assembly earlier today pic.twitter.com/ZmtiipPO2c — ANI (@ANI) March 13, 2015

Earlier in January, opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala had stated that any move to withdraw the cases against the LDF MLAs will be legally challenged. The opposition’s response to the withdrawal of cases remains to be seen.