The Hindu : Marad: panel issues notice to VS, others

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 20, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Marad: panel issues notice to VS, others

By Our Staff Reporter

KOZHIKODE, MARCH 19. The Marad Judicial Inquiry Commission has served show-cause notice on the CPI(M) Kozhikode district secretary, V.V. Dakshinamoorthy, the Deshabhami Printer and Publisher, P. Karunakaran, and the Chief Editor, V.S. Achuthanandan, as to why action should not be taken against them under Section 10(A) of the Commission of Inquiries Act.

At a sitting here today, the Commission, Thomas P. Joseph, ordered the CPI(M) leaders to appear before the Commission at 11 a.m. on March 31. However, they have been allowed to submit an affidavit through a lawyer in this regard.

This order has been passed based on the petition submitted by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) State committee member and Calicut Development Authority (CDA) chairman, M.C. Mayin Haji, that the CPI(M) organ, Deshabhimani had published a report on March 5 misrepresenting his statements recorded before the Commission on March 4 and also published another report on March 6 that the CPI(M) district secretariat had demanded a probe into the involvement of Mr. Mayin Haji in the May 2 massacre on the basis of his statements.

According to Mr. Mayin Haji, the reports amounted to interfering into the functioning of the Commission. Section 10(A) states that if any person by words either spoken or intended to be read makes or publishes any statement or does any other act, which is calculated to bring the Commission into disrepute, he shall be punished with a simple imprisonment for a term of six months or a fine or both.

Show-cause notice has also been issued to the assistant manager (legal) of BPL Mobile Cellular Limited and the Madhu Communications Airtel Kozhikode as to why action should not be taken against them under Section 175 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The Section states that whoever, being legally bound to produce or deliver any document to any public servant, as such, intentionally omits so to produce or deliver the same shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month or with a fine which may extend to Rs. 500, or with both.

Both the mobile companies had been ordered by the Commission to produce the details of the phone numbers (incoming and outgoing) in connection with the Commission's inquiry into the Marad incident. While one of the companies partially produced information, the other ignored the order.

The Commission also pulled up the Counsel for the Police Department, on postponing the examination of the City Police Commissioner, T.K. Vinod Kumar, and the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Abdul Rahim, by the Commission even though the High Court of Kerala had passed orders in the matter of producing the intelligence reports on the Marad incident. The Commission also ordered that both these police officers would be examined by the Commission on March 31.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala