Thiruvananthapuram: Hours after senior politician P C George, arrested by the police following cancellation of his bail in connection with a hate speech case, was sent to judicial remand by a magisterial court here on Thursday, the Kerala High Court asked the state what was the purpose of keeping him in custody if police had recordings of the speeches made by him.
The query by the High Court was posed to the state government during hearing of George's two pleas -- one seeking anticipatory bail in a hate speech case registered at Palarivattom police station and the other appealing against the cancellation of his bail in another hate speech case lodged against him in Thiruvananthapuram.
The high court asked the state what was the purpose of taking George into custody when the investigating agency already had video recordings of the speeches made by him.
It asked the Director General of Prosecution to answer the queries, posed by it, on the next date of hearing -- Friday. The court also said that George's pleas would be considered on that day and as a result, he would have to spend at least one more day in jail. During the hearing before the high court, the politician's lawyers urged the court to grant him interim bail.
They also contended that he was questioned for a long time at Palarivattom police station to await the bail cancellation order from the magisterial court in Thiruvananthapuram. His lawyers also alleged that the magisterial court cancelled his bail based on the case lodged at the Palarivattom police station and the same was not right.
The Magisterial court had on Wednesday cancelled the bail granted to George saying that the speech given by him at a temple festival at Vennala in Ernakulam district on May 8 violated the bail conditions. The order had come on a plea moved by the police claiming he had violated the bail conditions after he was granted the relief on May 1.
George was granted bail on May 1 after being arrested for making a hate speech against Muslims in the State on April 29. Subsequently, on May 10, another case was registered against him on charges of hate speech. Palarivattom police booked the former legislator over his objectionable remarks during a speech that he delivered in connection with a temple festival at Vennala in Ernakulam district on May 8.
Also read: Hate speech: Kerala court cancels bail of P C George
Hours after the court cancelled his bail, George was arrested at the Ernakulam AR camp on Wednesday evening by a police team which arrived there from Thiruvananthapuram. The team then ferried him to the Thiruvananthapuram AR camp where he reached around 12.30 AM on Thursday and early in the morning he was produced before the magisterial court which sent him to 14 day judicial remand. He was shifted to a district jail here. Police sought the custody of George to examine his voice, his lawyer said.
George's son and leader of Kerala Janapaksham, Shone George, questioned the "haste" shown by the police in producing his arrested father before the court early in the morning and alleged the role of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the act. He alleged that the police acted hastily to put George behind the bars when his plea seeking bail was pending before the high court and it was due to the political pressure.
The police had arrested George on May 1 after registering a case against him under Indian Penal Code Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) at Fort Police station for allegedly making a communal speech against Muslims while addressing 'Ananthapuri Hindu Maha Sammelanam' here on April 29. The 70-year-old former MLA had sparked off a controversy by asking non-Muslims in Kerala to avoid eating at restaurants run by the community. (PTI)
