India News | SC/ST Act Case: Kerala HC Restrains Police from Arresting Twenty20 Party Chief
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Kerala High Court on Wednesday restrained the police from arresting Twenty20 party chief and industrialist Sabu M Jacob in connection with a case registered against him under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Kochi, Dec 14 (PTI) The Kerala High Court on Wednesday restrained the police from arresting Twenty20 party chief and industrialist Sabu M Jacob in connection with a case registered against him under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
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Justice Kauser Edappagath said arrest was not necessary in the case, but the accused need to present themselves before the investigating officer as required.
It also said that a notice should be issued to the accused, summoning them to appear before the investigating officer.
The court accepted the plea filed by Jacob seeking to quash the FIR against him and issued notice to MLA P V Sreenijin, the complainant.
The case was registered on December 8 under sections 3(1) (r) and 3 (1) (u) of the SC/ST Act based on a complaint filed by Sreenijin.
Apart from Jacob, the case has been registered against the Panchayat Vice-President, Prasanna Pradeep, members Sathya Prakash, Jeel Mavelil and Rehani P T.
Section 3 (1)(r) of the Act deals with the offence of intentionally insulting or intimidating with an intent to humiliate a member of scheduled caste or a scheduled tribe in any place within public view.
Meanwhile, section 3(1)(u) of the Act deals with the words, either written or spoken, promoting or attempting to promote feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will against members of the scheduled caste or scheduled tribe.
The FIR states that Jacob barred the panchayat members from attending any event with Sreenijin.
It also alleged that on August 17, the accused walked off the stage when Sreenijin arrived to attend the event organised by the Agriculture department, insulting the MLA in front of the public.
Sreenijin also alleged that Jacob had earlier asked people to treat the Left MLA as an enemy and barred the panchayat members from attending any function with him.
Twenty20 is a charity outfit floated by the Anna-Kitex Group seven years ago, which later became a political platform and won four grama panchayats in the local body polls held in Kerala in 2020.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)