Kerala: Police files plea in court seeking cancellation of bail granted to P C George in hate speech case

The police on Thursday filed a plea before a court here seeking to cancel the bail granted to senior Kerala politician P C George, accused of making a hate speech against Muslims in Kerala at a conclave last week.

In its plea filed before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-II, the police alleged that George violated the bail conditions.

The conduct of the accused subsequent to the grant of bail is in sheer violation of the bail condition and therefore the bail granted to him is liable to be cancelled under Section 437(5) of CrPC on that ground alone, it said in the plea.

The police alleged that soon after he was granted bail, George addressed the visual media in front of the Judicial Officer's Quarters, Vanchiyoor and said he is still sticking to what he stated in the speech and was justifying the same which amounts to repetition of the same crime and spreading communal hatred further.

The police pointed out that the court, while granting bail, had directed the accused not to make and propagate controversial statements which may hurt the religious sentiments of others while on bail.

In its plea, the police argued that taking note of the totality of the facts and circumstances of the case particularly with respect to the subsequent conduct of the accused after release on bail, it is a fit case for invocation of the power of the court under Section 437(5) of CrPC to cancel the bail granted to the accused and direct him to be arrested and commit him to custody.

The police had arrested George on May 1 by police after registering a case against him under IPC Sections 153A (promoting enemity 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 Muslim community while addressing 'Ananthapuri Hindu Maha Sammelanam'on April 29.

The 70-year-old former MLA had sparked off a controversy by asking non-Muslims in Kerala to avoid restaurants run by the community.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)