(With inputs from Mathrubhumi)

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The Kerala High Court quashed a case against a man charged with a black flag at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as his convoy passed. The incident took place on April 9, 2017, and the person was accused of cases like posing a danger or obstruction in a public way, disobedience to the order of a public servant, defamation, and assault.

A single bench of Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas said|: “Though signs and visible representations can be a mode of defaming a person, still showing or waving a black flag to a person cannot amount to defamation nor is it an illegal act. Even if a black flag was shown to the Chief Minister’s convoy, such conduct cannot by any stretch of the language of Section 499 of the IPC be perceived as defamatory. In this context, this Court considers that a black flag can depict different things depending on the context. Waving a flag can be a sign of support or protest. It is a matter of perception. Generally, a black flag is shown as a mark of protest. If a flag of a particular colour is shown, whatever the reason, including as a mark of protest, as long as there is no law which prohibits the waving of a flag simpliciter, such conduct cannot be mulcted with the offence of defamation.”

The intention behind the IPC’s Section 95 (act causing simple harm) IPC is to avoid penalising negligible wrongs or trivial offences, the court said, adding that if prosecution is initiated for every triviality, “we will have time only for those”. “Section 95 comes to the aid in such instances. Considering the circumstances that none of the other offences is attracted and only Section 353 IPC remains, this court is of the view that having regard to the nature of allegations and in the absence of any assault or injury on the police officers and since the duty of the police officers was not deterred, Section 95 IPC can be applied to quash the offence under Section 353 IPC,” it added. The court concluded that it found no offences as alleged in the final report and quashed it.

–IANS

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In a hard-hitting opening-up before the media, top Kerala BJP leader Sobha Surendran on Saturday described Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as the biggest don in the state. “CM Vijayan is clear that he doesn’t wish to have my presence in Kerala. He (Vijayan) is deeply upset with me because I have been tracking all his things including his daughter Veena Vijayan and hence, he is against me. So is senior CPI-M leader E. P. Jayarajan who met me to discuss his joining the BJP,” said Sobha.

Sobha was going hammer and tongs against a section of the media and went to the extent of naming who they were as they were coming out with fabricated stories against her in the now controversial 2021 Kodakara hawala case, allegedly involving BJP leaders, that re-surfaced early this week. Sobha was fuming and asserted that she has nothing to do with former BJP Thrissur district office Secretary Tirur Satheesan who, the other day, revealed that the cash stolen from Kodakara was part of hawala money received by state BJP leaders for election expenditure.

“I have nothing to do with that and I am being targeted and the media is portraying that it’s me who is behind Tirur Satheesan.. I am not going to take this and I will retaliate strongly as I have nothing to do in this,” said an angry Sobha. The CPI-M is up in arms and has demanded a further investigation into it. Incidentally, the SIT formed for it has filed a charge sheet against 23 people, who are all presently out on bail.

She also pointed out that the probe by the national agencies in the now infamous Karuvanoor Cooperative Bank scam (in which few Thrissur top CPI-M leaders are involved) is not over and very soon more things will happen in that. Sobha, at the April 26 Lok Sabha polls, though she finished third, had made a strong fight at the Alappuzha Lok Sabha seat and is known for her fiery speeches.

–IANS

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Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan recently criticised CM Pinarayi Vijayan for his overseas visit to Cuba. The Governor referred to Pinarayi’s trip to Cuba as a ‘political pilgrimage.’ Criticising a news report that Pinarayi Vijayan met with Cuban officials about a partnership in the health sector, the Governor stated that the CM is discussing health with a country known for its tobacco industry. Arif Mohammad Khan stated that the chief minister was squandering public funds in this manner. Following his trip to the USA, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan paid a visit for two days to Cuba. Coincidence or not, both Cuba and Kerala are becoming passengers of the same boat. Cuba’s development is stifled due to generations of communist rule and Kerala is going through 2nd term of the ‘Left-Pinarayi’ government and Kerala’s development is being stifled by bad policy measures and price rises. In light of this, let us examine why Pinarayi’s visit to Cuba is a ridiculous waste of public money and why it is riddled with Left hypocrisy.

A Visit To Showcase Left Hypocrisy

The Communist Party of India is well-known for its support of China and Cuba. It is worth noting that the Kerala Chief minister earlier hailed Cuba for its socialistic ideas and its opposition to the US. Previously, the Kerala Chief Minister lauded North Korea for its staunch opposition to the United States. It is also worth noting that during the Doklam standoff, Kerala’s Chief Minister slammed India, claiming that “our country has now taken a pro-America stance, and our foreign policy is shaped accordingly. India has developed a foreign strategy that is consistent with US foreign policy and is completely opposed to China.” At least the Left is not colour-blind in this development as we can see clearly how much the Kerala CM loves his brotherly Red-Communist dictatorships. 

Cuba’s socialist regime has had a significant role in the country’s misery. The regime’s mishandling of the economy and repressive practises have exacerbated the country’s issues. The same is true of North Korea, a renegade Leftist state that ruthlessly subjugates its own people. China, on the other hand, may have a large economy, but the authoritarian government of the Party has deprived its population of all chances of democracy or liberty. The Left-Pinarayi government’s affection for Cuba is thus unsurprising, given that Kerala’s elected ruler has comparable preferences to other ruthless communist governments.

In fact, the Pinarayi government is slowly and surely morphing into a communist dictatorship. To understand this, we must first understand how Pinarayi has tightened the grip of power in Kerala. When Pinarayi Vijayan came to power the second time, He had stated that no ministers from the previous cabinet will find a berth in the second-term cabinet. And who was the only exception? Of course, the CM himself! In his quest for power, he even evicted acclaimed health minister KK Shailaja from the post she had handled successfully. Instead, the Kerala people got cronies of Pinarayi as their ministers including his own son-in-law.

In his 2nd term, Pinarayi has also started to stifle criticism and free press much like his communist counterparts in Cuba, China, and North Korea. According to reports, the Kerala government is even considering changing the rules of conduct of government employees in order to sanction staff who attack the administration online. The Pinarayi government’s intolerant attitude is on display for the public to witness; it is claimed that Pinarayi Vijayan is entitled to be referred to as “Mao of the South” owing to the intolerant administration and usage of police apparatus. Instead of holding press conferences after Cabinet meetings, Vijayan stopped dealing with media outlets and started issuing press releases in 2016. In 2017, as the media arrived to cover a “meeting” at a hotel in Thiruvananthapuram, the chief minister screamed, “kadakku purath” (Get out!). The Chief Minister’s amendment to the Kerala Police Act in 2020, which sought to protect women from cyberattacks, was perceived as an effort to restrict media freedom. It sought to adopt a new provision criminalising defamatory material, but it was dropped in response to opposition and public uproar. These events are in addition to earlier limitations on the press covering assembly processes. The incident clearly reveals that Kerala’s chief minister has regularly used Maoist techniques in dealing with the media. The Vijayan administration is not receiving good press coverage; two high-profile accusations involving the CM’s personal secretaries are making the rounds in journalistic circles, eroding the governing Left’s trust. The CM has struck out at the media in desperation; disagreement is the foundation of a society that is democratic, therefore the CM, as a legitimately elected leader, must welcome it. Pinarayi Vijayan has yet again demonstrated that he is a real Communist by enabling his thugs to seize the media by the neck! 

Wastage Of Public Money

Pinarayi Vijayan has conducted 19 international visits since taking office as Chief Minister and will continue to do so till 2023. However, only details on five of them are known. According to reports, he spent ₹32.58 lakh on official travels to the UAE in 2016, the United States in 2018, Japan in 2019, and the United States again in 2022 for medical treatment. The cost of the remaining 14 trips has not yet been disclosed. Over the past 6.5 years of LDF rule, the Chief Minister and Ministers of Kerala have undertaken 85 international travels. It is not his professional travels that have raised eyebrows, but rather his personal visits and covering the tab in public. A writ petition is currently underway in the High Court, which has brought these journeys under scrutiny. In his writ case, the petitioner claimed that Vijayan had taken ‘personal’ visits to the United States and the United Arab Emirates at separate times. The CM’s excursions had also drawn criticism since his family members accompanied him, using public cash. Pinarayi travelled to various European nations with his wife, daughter, and grandchild last year. There were also accusations about going on a foreign vacation during the state’s severe financial crisis. However, Pinarayi Vijayan’s foreign travel fiasco is simply the tip of the iceberg in terms of public money waste by the CM and his entourage. The government purchased a dozen new automobiles for the CM and other ministers last year. Despite a general restriction on the purchase of new automobiles due to the financial crisis, the exchequer has already spent 4 crores on these purchases. CM ranks first in the acquisition of new autos. The public is harmed not just by the purchases, but also by the increased security. It is unclear why the CM is so afraid of the people that he increased his security. The increased protection is equivalent to that provided by India to visiting heads of state. Kerala is in a desperate financial predicament. Kerala’s government debt has risen to about 4,000 crores, and the little state has eclipsed the majority of Indian states in this regard. Kerala’s current budget also highlights the state’s poor and perilous financial status. The substantial increase in taxes, particularly those on fuel, diesel, and alcoholic beverages, has hit the average man where he hurts the most. Kerala and its reigning communist regime appear to be right out of a black mirror episode. In an Orwellian fashion, the government operates an ‘animal farm,’ gorging on the ordinary man’s resources. Kerala has dismal days ahead owing to its perilous financial status, and the CM’s spending binge in the middle of this only testifies to an immoral type of administration that is destructive to society.

As it approaches the second year of its five-year term, the present government looks to be stuck in a never-ending loop of issues. From a conflict with the governor’s office to the appointment of party leaders to cabinet positions, the left administration has courted controversy. Although viewed as an outstanding model of human development and education, Kerala is hampered by comprehensive misgovernance and ignorance of critical issues. Even when espousing pluralism as well as free speech, the communist regime publicly introduces laws or circulars to stifle free expression, and even when they talk about growth and jobs, Kerala remains one of the country’s worst states in terms of employment and development. Because of its abundant natural resources, Kerala is a top achiever in education and human development. However, the state’s prospects are damaged by the ruling party’s ongoing disrespect for standards and misplaced priorities. As a result, the state’s financial situation is likewise bad. But the ruling class continues to ignore reality and pour money into its coffers. For instance, during the fiscal year 2019-20, the government allocated ₹34.79 crores towards remunerations and travel expenditures for personal staff members of ministers. Pensions and gratuity for retiring employees cost a total of ₹7.13 crores. Spending on ministers’ personal staff wages and travel expenditures grew by 25.30% in six years, compared to 2013-14. The CM’s personal staffers’ salaries and perks jumped by a whopping 190.61%. Pension expenses have more than doubled, going from ₹3.53 billion in 2013-14 to ₹7.13 billion in 2019-20. This load is likely to expand considerably in the coming years due to long-term life expectancy and periodic wage and pension modifications. The unexpected spike in these expenses comes against the backdrop of the state’s dismal financial situation and mounting debt. The sustainable debt level is predicted to be 23% of GSDP per Kerala’s Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2011. Kerala spent 75.6% of borrowed cash on revenue spending and 20.13% on debt repayment in 2019-20. Only 3.85% of the loaned cash was used on capital projects. According to Crisil’s 2019 States of Growth report, Kerala, along with Punjab and Rajasthan, was classified as a “state characterized by a significantly high debt ratio.”These were the only states with debt-to-GDP ratios over 30%. 

How the Pinarayi government governs the state raises the issue of whether Mr. Pinarayi intends to turn Kerala into a real communist state in the mould of Cuba or North Korea. The communist Kerala model, riddled with corruption and intolerance, is dragging the state to the edge of economic and social stagnation. When the next election rolls around, citizens must understand that each vote opposing the Vijayan administration is a vote for democracy.

(Anand Krishna is a lawyer from Kerala and a columnist)

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Kitex Garments, the world’s second largest manufacturer of kids apparel has decided to withdraw from ₹3,500 crore investment plan Kerala due to constant inspections tantamount to harassment by the Pinarayi Vijayan Communist government.

Kitex Managing Director, Sabu Jacob was quoted saying in Kerala Kaumudi, “We have already acquired 30 acres of land for the apparel park at Kizhakkambalam in Kochi. The project report has also been completed and the project would have provided jobs for 20,000 people. The three industrial parks were envisaged to promote start-ups providing all infrastructural facilities. Each of these parks would have created 5,000 job opportunities. The decision to scrap the project has been taken as I am fed up with the continuous harassment at the hands of the authorities. Whoever invests in Kerala will lose peace of mind and will be driven to suicide,”.

On the constant inspections conducted by the state government of Kerala, Jacob said “On Tuesday, it was the turn of the pollution control board. Each team has 40 to 50 officers and searches every nook and corner of the company. They grill employees for hours but do not reveal what violations they have found. The Kitex factory has been functioning here for the past 26 years and we have 11,000 employees. They arrive with a huge team violating Covid protocols and bring camera teams of online media,”.

“While our neighbouring states give a red carpet welcome to investors, the Kerala government treats them as traitors. They are branded as bourgeoisie, exploiters, encroachers, capitalists, and criminals and humiliated in public,” Sabu was quoted saying in the report.

Kitex had signed a memorandum of understanding with the state government at the Global Investment Summit held in Kochi in 2020, wherein a new investment of ₹3,500 crore was to be made in the state. However, all stands cancelled as Kerala loses one of the biggest projects.

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