Why do you need PC George's custody when speech is available: HC asks cops

Hours after senior politician PC George, was sent to judicial remand by a magisterial court in Kochi, on Thursday, May 26, in connection with a hate speech case, the Kerala High Court asked the state what the purpose was of keeping him in custody if police had recordings of the speeches made by him. A magisterial court in Kochi cancelled George’s bail — given for a hate speech case on May 1 — as had violated its condition and committed the same offence again. The Palarivattom police in Ernakulam booked George on May 10 on charges of hate speech, a week after he was arrested by the Fort police on similar charges.

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 — on Friday, May 27.

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 stated that the magisterial court cancelled his bail based on the case lodged at the Palarivattom police station, and that the same was “not right”.

The magisterial court had, on Wednesday, March 25, 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. Hours after the court cancelled his bail, George was arrested in Ernakulam on Wednesday evening by a police team which arrived there from Thiruvananthapuram.

The team then ferried him to Thiruvananthapuram, where he reached around 12.30 am on Thursday and early in the morning he was produced before the magisterial court. Here, he was sent to 14 days of judicial remand. He was shifted to a district jail in Thiruvananthapuram. 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 bars when his plea seeking bail was pending before the high court and it was due to the political pressure.