Hate speech case: Kerala High Court dismisses anticipatory bail plea of BJP leader P.C. George

Kerala High Court dismisses BJP leader P.C. George's anticipatory bail plea in hate speech case, citing repeated violations.

The Kerala High Court on Friday (February 21, 2025) dismissed an anticipatory bail petition filed by BJP leader P.C. George in a hate speech case registered against him by the Erattupetta police.

The case was registered against Mr. George for the offences under Section 196(1)(a) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion etc), and 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 120 (O) (penalty for causing nuisance and violation of public order) the Kerala Police Act.

Opposing Mr. George’s plea, the public prosecutor had submitted that Mr. George was not entitled to receive anticipatory bail as he had blatantly violated the bail condition set by the magistrate court and the High Court in four previous cases of similar nature. Mr. George had showed scant regard to the condition set by the courts against making such comments when he was granted bail in the case registered against him earlier.

The Kottayam Sessions Court had earlier dismissed his anticipatory bail petition. In his petition, Mr. George said that it was a slip of tongue. He made the remarks in the heat of the moment during a channel discussion and had apologised for the comments on his social media account. There was no deliberate intention to hurt any religious sentiments.

The High Court had slammed Mr. George during the hearing of the bail plea for flouting the High Court and magistrate’s court’s bail conditions in hate speech cases registered earlier against him and repeating such remarks in violation of the bail conditions.