Court cancels George's anticipatory bail in hate speech case
The Hindu
Thiruvananthapuram
A magistrate court here on Wednesday revoked the anticipatory bail granted to Kerala Janapaksham (Secular) leader and former legislator P. C. George in a communally provocative hate speech case registered at Fort police station here in early May.
The Judicial First Class Magistrate-II, Thiruvananthapuram, who rescinded the earlier order, said the police were free to arrest Mr. George.
Meanwhile, Mr. George turned up at the Palarivattom police station in Kochi in another similar case, triggering media speculation that the police would detain him.
Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP) workers turned up in strength at Palarivattom to support Mr. George. Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) workers were also present to press for Mr. George's arrest. The police have asked the groups to disperse peacefully.
The Fort police had booked Mr. George for allegedly inciting hate against a particular minority community at the Anandapuri Hindu Sammelan.
The prosecution case against Mr. George was that he had attempted to stoke communal discord by flagging divisive dog-whistle issues.
The police alleged that Mr. George had portrayed inter-faith unions as "love jihad". They also accused the politician of underscoring an "unfounded" fundamentalist conspiracy to increase the numbers of a particular minority community to disempower others.