A man stood on top of a government vehicle and challenged the entire judicial System and the judge, after that he just walked away as if nothing ever happened. This incident happened after the members of Muslim Ekopana Samithi decided to stage a protest march against the High Court verdict that annulled the marriage between a Hindu turned Muslim woman and a Muslim man, after the habeas corpus petition filed by the woman’s father.
Such an act irrespective of who that person is, should be liable for contempt against the Court. Following this showdown, Samithi has declared a dawn to dusk harthal across Ernakulam district against the alleged ‘Police brutality’ on 29th May. According to the spokesperson of Muslim Ekopana Samithi, there was an unprovoked lathicharge.
Police had set up barricades near St. Albert’s College, but once Muslim Ekopana Samithi activist broke the barricades Police were forced to resort to water cannons, lathichage and even tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. What happened after all this violence is amusing; a man out of this group of activist used the water cannon truck as the stage to speak to the hundreds of people that was gathered there, as Police just stood there and watched.
The speakers at the protest called for a review of the verdict and raised threats of strengthening the agitation. The speaker then went on to allege that, Justice K. Surendra Mohan of the Kerala High Court, after taking RSS’s earnest money, paved way for the Muslim brotherhood towards the slaughter houses of RSS.
If this is not liable for contempt of Court then what is? It seems nobody wants to take actions against this. If such an act against judicial system and a judge is left unnoticed, it will just be a beginning. This will mean that anyone and everyone can say whatever they want against the Court and go unpunished. Intriguing fact of this matter is, nobody even wants to talk about this.
“Such an act of violence and rage will only worsen the condition of this sensitive case, there are legal ways to challenge the judgment,” says Supreme Court lawyer Renjith Marar. According to him, the problem with them is much larger than what it seems to be. “These allegations and accusation made by these activists were a clear case of contempt,” he added.
A Division Bench of the court nullified the marriage of Hadiya and Shafin Jahan based on a habeas corpus petition filed by the woman’s father. According to Advocate Renjith Marar the judgment could have come out in a different way which wouldn’t have caused so much of tension. The judgment of this case could be used in the future cases and he believes that, this is the real reason behind this protest and rage.
He then went on to say that, “The Advocate General should have filed the contempt case against these people. It’s not like in the street fights were a man can go on to say whatever they want to another man, it is the Indian judicial system and that should be treated with respect.”
Such a disrespect and insult towards the Court and judge takes this matter into a dangerous territory, where a man has no respect for law and its lawmakers which is the foundation of democracy.
Cover image is a screengrab of a video via News18 Kerala.
