Kottayam:
A court in this district remanded BJP leader PC George to judicial custody on Monday in a hate speech case after sending him to police custody until 6 pm the same day.
The Erattupetta Munsif Magistrate Court rejected PC George’s bail application earlier in the day.
Senior police officials questioned Mr George before he was sent to jail, police sources said.
Mr George, a former MLA, surrendered before the Erattupetta Munsif Magistrate Court around 11.05 am. The case was taken up for consideration at 12.30 pm, followed by arguments from both sides.
After hearing the submissions, the court adjourned the case for further consideration at 2 pm.
Mr George’s lawyer argued that he did not “incite religious hatred or hurt religious sentiments”, asserting that custodial interrogation or evidence collection was unnecessary.
The prosecution, however, presented details of Mr George’s previous cases, stating that he had violated bail conditions and should be questioned in custody.
They contended that his remarks were made in a manner that hurt “religious sentiments”.
When the case was taken up after 2 pm, the court dismissed Mr George’s bail application, the complainant’s lawyer said.
Later, he was taken to Kottayam Government Medical College for a medical examination.
Mr George surrendered after police arrived to take him into custody following the Kerala High Court’s rejection of his anticipatory bail plea.
On Saturday, Mr George had requested time until February 24 to appear before the police for investigation in connection with the hate speech case.
The High Court dismissed his petition, stating that granting bail in such a case would send a wrong message to society.
Mr George was accused of delivering a hate speech against a minority community during a TV channel discussion.
He approached the High Court after the Kottayam Sessions Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea in the case registered by the Erattupetta police.
The case was based on a complaint by Muhamed Shihab, a Muslim Youth League leader, who alleged that Mr George made remarks capable of “inciting religious hatred”.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
