Kochi Jan 25 PTI The Kerala High Court on Tuesday said the Prime Minister has every right to give a message on COVID-19 vaccination and ruled his photo in the jab certificate cannot be considered as an advertisement A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly dismissed an appeal filed against a single judge order junking a plea seeking removal of the Prime Ministers photo from the COVID-19 vaccination certificates The bench said the PMs photo cannot be considered as an advertisement adding the Prime Minister has every right to give out a message on vaccination A Single Bench of the High Court had on December 21 last year dismissed the earlier petition filed by Peter Myaliparampil saying it was frivolous filed with ulterior motives publicity oriented and the petitioner probably also had a political agenda It had imposed a cost of Rs one lakh on the petitioner and he preferred an appeal against the single judge order The court had earlier said that in case of failure to deposit the cost within the stipulated period the Kerala State Legal Services Authority KeLSA shall recover the amount from his assets by initiating revenue recovery proceedings against him It had also said that the petitioner should study the respect to be given to the Prime Minister and others by watching at least the parliamentary proceedings which are available live on national TV The petitioner had contended that the certificate was a private space with personal details on record and therefore it was inappropriate to intrude into the privacy of an individual He had contended that adding the Prime Ministers photo to the certificate was an intrusion into an individuals private space Myaliparampil a senior citizen had contended in his plea that the Prime Ministers photo on his vaccination certificate was a violation of fundamental rights PTI COR RRT SA BN BN

Kochi Jan 25 PTI The Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal filed against its earlier order dismissing a plea seeking removal of the Prime Ministers photo from the COVID-19 vaccination certificates A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly said the photo of the PM cannot be considered as an advertisement The court also said that the Prime Minister has every right to give out a message on vaccination A Single Bench of the High Court had on December 21 last year dismissed the petition filed by one Peter Myaliparampil with a cost of Rs one lakh saying it was frivolous filed with ulterior motives publicity oriented and the petitioner probably also had a political agenda Peter had challenged the verdict The court had earlier said that in case of failure to deposit the cost within the stipulated period the Kerala State Legal Services Authority KeLSA shall recover the amount from his assets by initiating revenue recovery proceedings against him It had also said that the petitioner should study the respect to be given to the Prime Minister and others by watching at least the parliamentary proceedings which are available live on national TV The petitioner had contended that the certificate was a private space with personal details on record and therefore it was inappropriate to intrude into the privacy of an individual He had contended that adding the Prime Ministers photo to the certificate was an intrusion into an individuals private space The petitioner a senior citizen had contended in his plea that the Prime Ministers photo on his vaccination certificate was a violation of fundamental rights PTI COR RRT BN BN

Kochi Dec 21 PTI The Prime Minister is the leader of the nation and not of a political party and citizens need not be ashamed to carry a vaccination certificate with his photograph and morale boosting message the Kerala High Court said on Tuesday and dismissed a plea seeking removal of PMs photo from the COVID-19 immunisation certificates Nobody can say that a Prime Minister is a Congress Prime Minister or a BJP Prime Minister or the Prime Minister of any political party But once a Prime Minister is elected as per the constitution he is the Prime Minister of our country and that post should be the pride of every citizen they can differ on the policies of the government and even the political stand of the Prime Minister But the citizens need not be ashamed to carry a vaccination certificate with the photograph of the Prime Minister with a morale boosting message especially in this pandemic situation the high court said It also said that when COVID-19 pandemic can be eliminated only by vaccination if the PM gave a message with his photograph in the certificates that with the help of medicine and strict control India will defeat the virus what is wrong with it The court dismissed the petition with a cost of Rs 1 lakh saying it was frivolous filed with ulterior motives publicity oriented and the petitioner probably also had a political agenda According to my opinion this is a frivolous petition filed with ulterior motives and I have a strong doubt that there is a political agenda also to the petitioner According to me this is a publicity oriented litigation Therefore this is a fit case that is to be dismissed with a heavy cost A citizen of this country argues before the High Court that carrying the photograph of his Prime Minister in the vaccination certificate with a morale boosting message in a pandemic situation is an intrusion to his privacy The petitioner says that it is a compelled viewing As I observed earlier these are frivolous contentions which one never expects from a citizen Justice P V Kunhikrishnan said The court directed the petitioner -- Peter Myaliparampil -- to deposit the cost in favour of the Kerala State Legal Services Authority KeLSA within six weeks The court said in case of failure to deposit the cost within the stipulated period KeLSA shall recover the amount from his assets by initiating revenue recovery proceedings against him It also said that the petitioner should study the respect to be given to the Prime Minister and others by watching at least the parliamentary proceedings which are available live on national TV The court said that if the petitioner does not want to see his PM or if he was ashamed to see the PMs photo he can avert his eyes to the bottom side of the vaccine certificate Therefore the argument by the petitioner that the photograph of the Prime Minister of India with a morale boosting message to his fellow citizens through the vaccination certificate is a compelled viewing of the photograph of the Prime Minister of India is to be rejected This is also a frivolous contention raised by the petitioner the judge said in his 32-page judgement The court also said that compelled listening or viewing is only there when the government forces someone to listen or view its messages The court also said What is wrong with politicians Since a small percentage of politicians are having a bad history the entire politicians need not be ignored They are the builders of our nation with innovative ideas While imposing the cost the judge said he was aware the amount was big as far as a citizen was concerned but when such frivolous contentions are raised by a petitioner he should know its effect and the society also should know that if frivolous petitions are filed the court will not accept the same Thousands of convicted persons in criminal cases are in jail in our country waiting for hearing of their appeals Thousands of people are waiting for a result in their matrimonial disputes Thousands of people are waiting for the result of their property disputes In such a situation this court has to consider those litigations as early as possible and this court is doing that every day In such a situation when frivolous petitions are filed that should be dismissed with a heavy cost it said If the petitioner is coordinating this type of campaign I have nothing to say but to pity him the judge added The petitioner had contended that the certificate was a private space with personal details on record and therefore it was inappropriate to intrude into the privacy of an individual He had contended that adding the Prime Ministers photo to the certificate was an intrusion into an individuals private space The petitioner a senior citizen had contended in his plea that the Prime Ministers photo on his vaccination certificate was a violation of fundamental rights PTI HMP ROH ROH

Kochi Dec 21 PTI The Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea seeking removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modis photograph from COVID-19 vaccination certificates and imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on the petitioner by terming the petition as frivolous being politically motivated and a publicity interest litigation Justice P V Kunhikrishnan directed the petitioner -- Peter Myaliparampil -- to deposit the cost in favour of the Kerala State Legal Services Authority KeLSA within six weeks The court said in case of failure to deposit the cost within the stipulated period KeLSA shall recover the amount from his assets by initiating revenue recovery proceedings against him It said the cost was being imposed to let people and the society know that frivolous pleas like this which waste judicial time will not be entertained by the court The court also said that the frivolous contentions by the petitioner objecting to the PMs photo and his morale boosting message on the vaccination certificate was not expected from a citizen of the country It also said that when there are thousands of criminal appeals bail pleas civil suits and matrimonial cases pending in the courts frivolous petitions like the instant one waste judicial time The court had previously observed what was wrong in Covid-19 vaccination certificates carrying the photograph of the Prime Minister when he was elected to power by the people of the country The court had also remarked They may not be proud of their PMs we are proud of our PM and had asked the petitioner -- why are you ashamed of the Prime Minister He came to power through the mandate of the peoplewe may have different political views but he is still our PM The petitioner had contended that the certificate was a private space with personal details on record and therefore it was inappropriate to intrude into the privacy of an individual He had contended that adding the Prime Ministers photo to the certificate was an intrusion into an individuals private space The petitioner a senior citizen had contended in his plea that the Prime Ministers photo on his vaccination certificate was a violation of fundamental rights PTI HMP ROH ROH

Kochi Sep 19 PTI The Kerala High Court has set aside the conviction of two of the five people accused of killing a taxi driver in 2012 saying the investigation was clumsy prosecution was inept and the trial court was overzealous to convict them in the absence of evidence This is a classic case in which the clumsy investigation and inept prosecution conspired together to derail the case against the accused The impugned judgment is the product also of an overzealous Court who went on to convict even in the absence of any evidence the high court said According to the prosecution the unsuspecting driver took a trip for his taxi little knowing that it would be his last one and his body was found on the next day beaten strangulated and incinerated It had claimed that the murder was part of a conspiracy to rob the taxi car - a crime for gain The high court however said that the case was set up on solely circumstantial evidence with no ocular evidence We fail to understand how such a charge was made out with narration of the role of each of the accused Well one could imagine the accused speaking to the investigator when in custody But if the prosecution is shaped on that and the evidence collected only on that then of course the result would be disastrous as in this case When a confession made by the accused cannot be relied upon by courts of law the investigators should tread carefully in shaping the case and collecting evidence the high court said The court said that what the prosecution managed to establish was that the main accused had hired the taxi of the deceased for a trip to Pooppara a village in Idukki district and on the next day the latter was found dead and his vehicle was missing The mere fact that accused 1 was seen travelling in the taxi car on the previous day cannot be an incriminating circumstance to accuse him of the murder and theft of the car which obviously happened on the early morning of the next day We have found that the recoveries have not been proved and despite various witnesses turning hostile the Sessions Judge relied on the evidence of the Investigating Officer IO The evidence of the IO itself is shaky and lacking in details the high court said It said that whether the recovered car was that of the deceased was not established which lays bare the incompetence of the prosecution It also said that there was also no scientific evidence to connect the accused with the crime As we noted at the outset the incompetence of the investigation and the prosecution resulted in no circumstance being established against the appellants herein The trial court too was a silent spectator anxious to convict even when there was a complete lack of evidence it said The high court also noted that according to the medical evidence while the deceased was bludgeoned to death he was set ablaze before he breathed his last a brutal homicide without doubt the investigation of which murder should have been carried out with a little more care and caution and of course more skillfully and a lot more intelligently the high court said while allowing the appeals of the two accused Of the remaining three accused one had died another was facing trial before a juvenile justice board and the last one accused no 4 has not preferred an appeal yet The high court directed that the acquitted accused be released forthwith if not wanted in any other case and if they are out on bail then their bail bonds shall stand cancelled A certified copy of the judgment shall be issued to the Member Secretary Kerala State Legal Services Authority KeLSA who shall instruct the concerned Secretary District Legal Services Authority to consider the payment of compensation to the family of the deceased as per the Kerala Victim Compensation Scheme 2017 it said It also directed the Member Secretary KeLSA to conduct enquiries as to the prison in which the 4th accused is incarcerated and enable an appeal if he so desires PTI HMP APR APR