Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Pinarayi slams court remarks

Pinarayi Vijayan says the judge committed “misuse of power.”

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Communist Party of India (Marxist) State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan has come down heavily on the observation of the Single Bench of the Kerala High Court that there must be “a gubernatorial move to apprise the Central government about the urgent need for a permanent prophylactic action to curb further bloodshed in Kannur” and termed it a gross breach of the Constitutional limits by the judge.

Mr. Vijayan told a news conference here on Tuesday that the judge had committed “misuse of power” by making such observations and suggesting deployment of Central forces in Kannur without hearing the State government.

“He has forayed outside the powers that the Constitution has given him. It is not in a judge’s power to issue instructions to the Governor,” the CPI(M) leader said.

He said the primary thing for the judge before making such observations was to hear the State government either by issuing a notice to the Chief Secretary or by asking the Advocate General as to what the State government had done in Kannur.

Maintenance of law and order was the responsibility of the State government. As such, the judge’s observations amounted to intrusion into the domain of the State government, he said.

The normal practice of judges was not to allow their personal information to find reflection in their judgment.

They should go by the papers and evidence before them.

In the present instance, the arbitrary nature and misuse of power implied in the judgment were evident in the thinking and words of the judge, he said.

Asked whether his remarks would not amount to contempt of court, Mr. Vijayan said his intention was not to commit contempt of court, but to point out the unilateral nature of the judgment.

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