A week after he was arrested and released on bail for making controversial remarks against the Muslim community, another case was registered against senior politician PC George by the police on Tuesday, on charges of hate speech. The Palarivattom police booked the former MLA over his objectionable remarks during a speech, which he delivered in connection with a temple festival at Vennala on May 8.
The case was registered under Section 153 (promoting enmity between different groups) and 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the IPC, a police officer said. "Further proceedings in the case will be finalised after examining the details and bail conditions regarding the earlier case registered at Thiruvananthapuram," he told PTI.
Seventy-year-old George, who was the chief whip when the Congress-led UDF was in power, had sparked a row by asking non-Muslims in Kerala to avoid restaurants run by the community.
Addressing a programme organised as part of the Ananthapuri Hindu Maha Sammelan here late last month, the former Kerala Congress leader had alleged that tea laced with "drops causing impotence" was sold in Muslim-run restaurants to turn people "infertile" in a bid to "seize control" of the country, a claim that has previously been debunked as false.
As the remarks triggered widespread political controversy, a case was registered and he was arrested on May 1. However, within a few hours of his arrest, George secured bail from a Magisterial court. After his release too, he made a provocative statement that his arrest was “Pinarayi's gift to terrorist Muslims.”
George, who represented the Poonjar constituency in the state Assembly for 33 years, lost his bastion to the Left Democratic Front candidate in the 2021 Assembly polls in a triangular fight.