A Catholic priest convicted in the Sister Abhaya murder case moved Kerala High Court on Monday, challenging the verdict by the Special CBI court, Thiruvananthapuram, awarding him double life sentence.

Father Thomas Kottoor, currently in jail, alleged that the order of the conviction and sentence passed by the Special CBI Court was “absolutely improper and incorrect”.

He submitted that it was “opposed to law and contrary to the facts, circumstances and evidence and hence it is unsustainable”.

The priest alleged that the trial and conviction by the court in “all respects are vitiated by very grave illegalities and irregularities, like recording the evidence of witnesses, examination of the accused and permitting the prosecution to produce fresh documents and evidence even at the time of final arguments”.

In its December 23 judgment, the CBI special court had awarded double life sentence to Father Kottoor and imposed a fine of Rs 6.5 lakh.

The other accused, Sister Sephy, was sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5.5 lakh was slapped on her.

The court had found them guilty of the murder of Sister Abhaya in 1992.