Kerala: CPM's Jayarajan faces jail in contempt of court case

Cochin, Nov 8: The Kerala High Court has sentenced CPI (M) leader MV Jayarajan to six months imprisonment in a contempt of court case. Jayarajan had launched a tirade against judges who had banned rallies in public places and had gone a step ahead and called them names that led to the ruling against him in court. Apart from the imprisonment, he also faces a penalty of Rs 2000.

In case of refusing to pay the penalty amount, he will have to face an extra year as jail term. The ruling was made by the divisional bench comprising Justice V Ramkumar and PQ Barqat Ali.

Jayarajan's derogatory terms against the judges warranted such extreme punishment with the court giving the maximum punishment in contempt of court cases. The order was based on a suo moto case taken up by the court citing the insult meted out to the judges and the judiciary in general.

In a first such contempt of court case against a political face in Kerala, this is the first instance of such a maximum punishment granted to Indian politicos involved in a contempt of court case.

Jayarajan in his defence had stated that he had not insulted the judiciary and that he was just pointing out the discrepancies in the court order. To back his proper usage of words, Jayarajan had also lined up language experts to validate that he had not used insulting language.

Jayarajan can now approach the Supreme Court if he wants to avoid the jail term.

OneIndia News