Justice J B Koshi ordered the fresh investigation on a writ petition filed by the then executive magistrate T T Antony (now retired) and the then Kannur police superintendent Revatha A Chandrasekhar and 16 other policemen who were arraigned in the case, before a magistrate court in Koothuparamba on the basis of a judicial inquiry ordered by the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF). The petitioners sought to quash the first information report (FIR) before the magistrate court. The FIR had charged Raghavan with murder.

District Judge K P Padmanabhan, who probed the incident, had concluded that the police firing was unjustified.

The petitioners challenged the registration of thecase and the investigation mainly on the ground that being subordinate officers, they had only obeyed the orders of their superiors.

They further contended that the entire case was an outcome of political vendetta on part of the CPI(M) from which Raghavan was expelled. Political malafide and bias were also alleged in the case.