The Kerala High Court on Friday directed the police not to arrest till March 4 Twenty20 chief coordinator Sabu M. Jacob in a case filed against him by Kunnathunad MLA P.V. Sreenijin for allegedly making insulating and humiliating remarks against him based on his caste and religion.
Justice C.S. Dias passed the interim order on a petition filed by Mr. Jacob seeking to quash the case registered against him. The Puthencruz police had registered the case against the petitioner under the under Section 3(1)(r) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on a complaint by Mr. Sreenijin. According to the complaint, Mr. Jacob in his speech during a party meeting held on January 21 at Kolenchery had insulted and humiliated him.
Mr. Jacob pointed out in his petition that when he proposed to hold a meeting of his party on January 21, the MLA had objected to it, saying that it was being held on government land. The court, however, had restrained the police and the MLA from preventing the petitioner from conducting the meeting. The complaint was lodged by the MLA immediately after the meeting.
The court after considering the petitioner’s contention observed that the petitioner had made out a prima facie case for an interim order and held that his custodial interrogation was not necessary. However, he could be interrogated.
The court ordered that that the investigating officer, if found necessary, shall interrogate the petitioner on any day between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. after giving adequate interval for a period of one month, or till the final report is filed, whichever is earlier. The court also directed that petitioner shall be issued prior notice by the investigating officer to appear before him for the purpose of investigation. The appearance of the petitioner before the investigating officer shall be construed as limited custody/deemed custody.
The court also ordered that the investigating officer shall not intimidate or harass the petitioner during the interrogation.
