Kannur (Kerala) | CPI(M) leader P Jayarajan on Tuesday defended the parole granted to Kodi Suni, a convict in the 2012 T P Chandrasekharan murder case, saying prisons are reform centres and that parole can be given even to those convicted of serious crimes.

Reacting to media reports critical of the decision to grant parole to Suni, CPI(M) leader P Jayarajan said it was following a complaint filed by Sunil's mother with the Human Rights Commission that the prison department was asked to consider whether parole could be granted on humanitarian grounds.

"Taking this into account, the prison chief issued an order granting 30 days of parole," Jayarajan said in a Facebook post.

He said that, as a member of the advisory committee of the Kannur Central Jail, recommendations had been made to grant parole without considering the political affiliations of the convicts.

"During the COVID-19 period, many prisoners, including those serving life sentences, were on parole for several months. After one phase of the pandemic, when the state home department requested that the prisoners return to jail, it was the Supreme Court that extended the parole period, considering human rights," the CPI(M) leader said.

He said that even during the COVID-19 period, Kodi Suni was not granted parole.

"What great crime is there in granting parole following a mother's complaint after six years?... Prisons are also reform centres; based on this principle, leave is granted even to those convicted of serious cases," Jayarajan said.

His statement also comes amidst a political controversy over the decision to grant parole to Kodi Suni.

On Monday, the opposition Congress-UDF alleged that the Left government's decision is an open challenge to the legal system and the rule of law.

Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader Chandrasekharan was brutally hacked to death at Onchiyam in Kozhikode district on May 4, 2012, by a gang of assailants, with leaders of the ruling CPI(M) facing allegations of conspiracy in the incident.