Kochi: The Kerala High Court has granted bail to 31 accused of raising provocative slogans at a rally of the radical outfit Popular Front of India (PFI). The rally was held in the Alappuzha district in May this year. During the rally, provocative slogans were raised against Hindus and Christians. The rally had also been in a lot of controversies after a video of a minor surfaced. In this video, the minor boy was threatening to kill Hindus.
Of the 33 accused arrested in the case, 31 were granted bail by the high court on July 5, 2022. Justice Bechu Kurien Thomas said, "The allegations are of a serious nature, yet they are all in jail for more than 30 days. The investigation related to the accused has been completed, so it would not be right to keep them in custody for more time. Two of the accused in the case are still on the run. The judge said, "In such circumstances, I am in favour of allowing these bail applications. Advocates KS Madhusudhanan, Sunny Mathew and Ranjit B Marar argued on behalf of the accused. He said they were all innocent. They have been arrested on different dates between May 24 and June 4. He argued that the slogans were being misinterpreted. It does not fall under the category of crime.
At the same time, public prosecutor K A Naushad opposed the plea saying that the accused had tried to harm the harmony prevailing in the state. He said if such slogans are allowed to be raised during rallies, it could have serious consequences. At the same time, advocate Naushad argued that the investigation was still on and the two accused were yet to be arrested. The release of the petitioners on bail will affect the investigation.
What's the whole matter:-
Provocative slogans were raised during the 'Save The Republic' rally organized by the Popular Front of India (PFI) in Alappuzha on May 21, 2022. At the rally, a minor child had also threatened Hindus and Christians. In it, he said, "Keep the rice ready." Yama (the god of death) will come to your house. If you live respectfully, you can stay in our place. If not, we don't know what will happen. Objecting to the incident at that time, the Kerala High Court had observed, "What is happening in this country?" Justice P V Kunhikrishnan had said that if any member of the rally had raised provocative slogans, the people who organised the rally were also responsible for it.
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairman Priyank Kanungo said after the video of the minor child surfaced, "It is against the Juvenile Justice Act to involve children in such activities. Strict action should be taken in this matter. It is a cognizable offence.''
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