KOCHI — The Kerala High Court on Friday rejected the anticipatory bail plea filed by BJP leader P C George in connection with a hate speech he made during a television debate recently, saying that it will give a wrong message to the society.
While participating in a TV channel discussion on January 5 this year, George said: “All Muslims in India are terrorists and communalists. Not a single non-terrorist Muslim lives in India. Muslims are looters who plunder the country’s wealth. Lakhs of Hindus and Christians have been slaughtered by Muslims to create a Muslim state. All Indian Muslims should go to Pakistan. All Muslims are communal demons and scoundrels”.
The High Court also said that “politicians should be a role model to the society” and that the tendency nowadays to make statements based on religion, caste, etc “should be nipped in the bud” as they are against the basic structure of the Constitution, PTI reported.
It further said that the Parliament and the Law Commission should consider whether an offender who makes such statements should be allowed to escape by paying a fine.
The High Court also drew the attention of the Law Commission and the Parliament to the need for a mandatory jail sentence in cases, like that of George, where such statements are made continuously.
Denying the relief to the BJP leader, Justice P V Kunhikrishnan said the High Court had in 2022 granted bail to George in two hate-speech related cases with the condition that shall not make any statement which would tend to result in the commission of offences under sections 153A (promoting enmity 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 IPC.
This story was originally published in clarionindia.net. Read the full story here.