MM Mani has been accused in the murder case of a youth Congress leader in 1982.
A local court in Kerala today dismissed a petition filed by CPI (M) leader and state Electricity Minister M M Mani, seeking discharge from the case related to the murder of a youth Congress leader in 1982.
Additional Session Judge V G Sreedevi also allowed the prosecution petition to list two other CPI (M) leaders, including Idukki District Secretary K K Jayachandran as accused in the case.
Mr Mani, a party state secretariat member, is the second accused in the case.
The case was reopened by the previous Congress led UDF government after Mr Mani made two controversial speeches in 2012 in which he publicly stated that the Communist party had often eliminated its political foes in Idukki district in the 1980s.
Presently, there are three accused in the case.
The youth leader, Anchery Baby was shot dead at Udumbanchola in the district on November 13, in 1982.
There were nine accused in the case and were acquitted by a lower court, which was later upheld by the High Court. Reacting to the court order, Mr Mani said the case was politically motivated.
"The verdict is not going to affect me in any way", he said while rejecting the demand for his resignation from the Congress and BJP.
Mr Mani was inducted as Minister last month after the resignation of then Industries Minister E P Jayarajan in the wake of allegation of nepotism in appointments in PSUs.
Meanwhile, KPCC President V M Sudheeran said it was not proper that Mr Mani continue as a minister.
"He should resign on his own or Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should oust him from the cabinet," Mr Sudheeran said.
He also said that listing Mani and district Secretary K K Jayachandran as accused in the case was a severe setback to "CPI(M)'s politics of violence."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)