Thiruvananthapuram • It’s for the first time in the State’s history that Kerala High Court has hauled up a Minister on a criminal contempt petition suo motu, “for denigrating the judiciary”.
In the late 1960’s, Chief Minister E M S Namboodiripad was fined for casting aspersions on the judiciary, alleging a class bias against the poor. But that was not a suo motu case by the High Court.
Acting Chief Justice K S Radhakrishnan and Justice M N Krishnan yesterday directed Paloli Muhammad Kutty, Local Self-Government Minister and a senior leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), to appear in the court before next Thursday to clarify his position.
The minister had reportedly alleged at a union meeting at Calicut University on January 30 that often judgments depended on the volume of the currency notes. His speech had come in the wake of the High Court, striking off four key provisions of the Kerala Professional College Act.
The Minister was apparently dismayed by the verdict that sought to deprive the State of the progress it had made on the social justice front.
When the Justices initiated the contempt proceedings on Wednesday, Advocate-General C P Sudhakara Prasad cited the Minister’s subsequent statement, denying the charge and attributing it to media distortion.
When the court resumed hearing yesterday, the Justices pulled up the Advocate-General for trying to defend the accused than helping the court. The court also issued notices to editors and publishers of four Malayalam newspapers - Rashtra Deepika, Madhyamam, Mangalam and Tejus- for carrying the report.
The Registry of the Court had verified the newspaper reports and forwarded them to the Advocate-General along with the draft charges for initiating criminal contempt of court proceedings against the Minister.
Paloli Muhammad Kutty reiterated today that he had not said anything against the judges.
“My speech was quoted out of context. I had only tried to say that the prohibitive cost of litigation went against the interests of the poor. I will appear before the court on next Wednesday and explain my stand. My party (the CPM) and I have highest regard for the judiciary.”
The Opposition has asked the Minister to own up and apologise.An apology is perhaps the best option for the Minister since the Justices view his remark in the context of the mounting attacks on the judiciary by the CPM, from party State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan to Students Federation of India State president M Swaraj.
In the late 1960’s, Chief Minister E M S Namboodiripad was fined for casting aspersions on the judiciary, alleging a class bias against the poor. But that was not a suo motu case by the High Court.
Acting Chief Justice K S Radhakrishnan and Justice M N Krishnan yesterday directed Paloli Muhammad Kutty, Local Self-Government Minister and a senior leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), to appear in the court before next Thursday to clarify his position.
The minister had reportedly alleged at a union meeting at Calicut University on January 30 that often judgments depended on the volume of the currency notes. His speech had come in the wake of the High Court, striking off four key provisions of the Kerala Professional College Act.
The Minister was apparently dismayed by the verdict that sought to deprive the State of the progress it had made on the social justice front.
When the Justices initiated the contempt proceedings on Wednesday, Advocate-General C P Sudhakara Prasad cited the Minister’s subsequent statement, denying the charge and attributing it to media distortion.
When the court resumed hearing yesterday, the Justices pulled up the Advocate-General for trying to defend the accused than helping the court. The court also issued notices to editors and publishers of four Malayalam newspapers - Rashtra Deepika, Madhyamam, Mangalam and Tejus- for carrying the report.
The Registry of the Court had verified the newspaper reports and forwarded them to the Advocate-General along with the draft charges for initiating criminal contempt of court proceedings against the Minister.
Paloli Muhammad Kutty reiterated today that he had not said anything against the judges.
“My speech was quoted out of context. I had only tried to say that the prohibitive cost of litigation went against the interests of the poor. I will appear before the court on next Wednesday and explain my stand. My party (the CPM) and I have highest regard for the judiciary.”
The Opposition has asked the Minister to own up and apologise.An apology is perhaps the best option for the Minister since the Justices view his remark in the context of the mounting attacks on the judiciary by the CPM, from party State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan to Students Federation of India State president M Swaraj.
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