KOTTAYAM: Rejecting his bail plea, the Judicial First-Class Magistrate Court, Erattupetta, on Monday remanded BJP leader and former MLA, P C George in judicial custody till March 10 in a hate speech case.
After a day-long drama, George was admitted to the cardiology ICU at Government Medical College Hospital in Kottayam following health issues by late evening.
The day was eventful as George’s request to appear before the police ended on Monday. According to reports, George had planned to surrender at the Erattupetta police station with a rally of BJP workers. Senior BJP leaders in the district including N Hari, BJP Kottayam East district secretary G Lijin Lal and others gathered at George’s house in Erattupetta in the morning. However, as the police denied permission for the rally citing potential tension in the town, George made a dramatic appearance at the magistrate court by 11.05 am.
Although police sought George in custody for interrogation, the court granted custody only till 6 pm. Later, the court rejected George’s bail application and remanded him to 14 days judicial custody. However, during a medical test before being taken to jail, abnormalities were found in the ECG results, leading to his admission to the medical college hospital.
As the High Court had rejected George’s anticipatory bail plea last Friday, the police were to arrest him. Though Erattupetta police twice arrived at George’s residence on Saturday, he was not present there and hence police served a notice instructing him to appear at the police station promptly. Following this, he requested time till Monday to surrender.
The Erattupetta police had registered a case against George for allegedly making remarks that could incite religious hatred. This action was taken following a complaint filed by the Erattupetta municipal committee of the Muslim Youth League, accusing George of making inflammatory comments about Muslims during a panel discussion in a news channel.
George has been booked under various sections of the BNS and Kerala Police Act, including insulting a religion or religious beliefs and inciting provocation with the intent to cause a riot. George was embroiled in similar controversies in the past. In April 2022, he was booked for hate speech following remarks made during the Ananthapuri Hindu Maha Sammelanam. Later that year, the Palarivattom police registered another case against him for making a communally sensitive speech at Vennala, Kochi.