The Kerala police, on Thursday, May 5, filed a plea before a court in Thiruvananthapuram seeking to cancel the bail granted to senior politician PC George, accused of making a hate speech against Muslims at a conclave in Kerala last week. He was taken into custody by police on May 1 for his communal and inflammatory remarks against Muslims.
Addressing a programme organised as part of the ongoing Ananthapuri Hindu Maha Sammelan in Thiruvananthapuram, he asked non-Muslims in Kerala to avoid restaurants run by the Muslim community, alleging that “tea laced with drops causing impotence” were sold in Muslim-run restaurants to turn people infertile in a bid to seize control of the country — a claim that has already been established as fake news in the past.
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) (When bail may be taken in case of non-bailable offence) of The Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) on that ground alone,” it said in the plea.
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 that he was 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. 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 after registering a case against him under 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) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Fort Police station for allegedly making a communal speech against the Muslim community while addressing 'Ananthapuri Hindu Maha Sammelanam'on April 29. After being released on bail, he made another controversial claim that his arrest was Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s “Ramadan gift for terrorist Muslims.”