Thiruvananthapuram: The Sub Court dismissed the petition filed by former Devaswom Minister and CPI(M) leader Kadakampally Surendran seeking to restrain Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan from making further allegations against him in connection with the Sabarimala gold theft controversy.

Kadakampally’s plea was that, as Devaswom Minister, he had no responsibility in the day-to-day affairs of temples, including Sabarimala, or in the handling of their properties, and therefore Satheesan should be prevented from continuing allegedly defamatory remarks against him. The petition dismissed now was an interlocutory application filed by Kadakampally in the defamation case he had instituted against V.D. Satheesan over the remarks made by him.
However, V.D. Satheesan’s side argued that, as Leader of the Opposition, he had raised matters concerning public issues with full conviction and awareness.

 The trial has not yet commenced in the defamation case filed by Kadakampally seeking ₹10 lakh as compensation for the allegations earlier raised by Satheesan.
Satheesan has also filed an interlocutory application before the court seeking to restrain the CPI(M) mouthpiece and channel, among others, from publishing or broadcasting news against him in connection with this case in a false and personally defamatory manner. Advocates Mridul John Mathew and Vinayak Shankar, appearing for Satheesan, stated that the reports claiming that this petition had been withdrawn are false. The court will consider both petitions again in July.