Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar Moves High Court To Quash Case Over Posts After Kerala Blasts, Court Orders No Coercive Action

Justice C.S. Dias (Special Judge for MP/MLA) issued an interim order directing that no coercive steps shall be taken against the Minister till December 14, 2023.

Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani appeared for the Minister and argued that he had not spoken any words or statements to promote hatred or religious disharmony in the state, nor had he committed any illegal acts to cause rioting.

Two separate pleas were moved by the Minister before Court today for quashing two FIRs registered against him where he was made the sole accused on the grounds alleging commission of offences under Sections 153 (giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) of IPC read with Section 120 (o) (penalty for causing nuisance and violation of public order) of the Kerala Police Act.

The allegation against Minister Rajeev was that he posted provocative remarks through his social media page following the recent Kalamaserry bomb blasts which took place on October 29. It was alleged that the Minister on his Facebook page posted allegedly "provocative remarks" on ‘Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’ causing disruption of religious harmony in the state.

The plea filed by the Minister stated that he was only concerned that the State government was not taking any action against radical groups such as ‘Hamas’ due to its ‘appeasement politics’ in the state and was taking a passive approach. He stated that he had only expressed his concerns after the Kalamaserry bomb blasts for maintaining law and order in the state.

The plea further stated that the registration of FIR against him was nothing but malicious prosecution and that he had not made any statements with reference to any particular religious community. The plea stated that he was unfairly targeted with ulterior intentions and FIRs were registered against him and further proceedings in Crime No. 3408/2023 and 3418/2023 have to be quashed.

The petitions are moved by Advocates Santhosh Mathew, Anil Sebastian Pulickel, Abi Benny Areckal, Mathew Nevin Thomas, Shinto Mathew Abraham, Kurian Anthony Mathew, Joe S. Adhikaram.

Case number: Crl MC 10206/2023, Crl MC 10216/2023

Case Title: Rajeev Chandrasekhar v. State of Kerala

Click Here To Read/Download The Order [CRL.MC NO. 10216 OF 2023] 

Click Here To Read/Download The Order [CRL M.A. 1/2023 IN CRL.MC NO. 10206 OF 2023]