Published Aug 10, 2023 | 8:30 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 10, 2023 | 8:30 AM
Court - Representational Pic
The Karnataka High Court has expressed anguish over the slow progress in the case involving 48-year-old Indian national Shailesh Kumar, who is currently a Saudi Arabian prisoner.
It also directed the Union government to obtain a copy of the order of the sentence Kumar is serving, along with a copy of the confirmation of the jail sentence, from the Saudi Arabian prison or the kingdom’s court of law at the earliest.
Kumar, a resident of Mangaluru, who was working in a private company in Al Khobar, was sentenced to 15 years in a Saudi Arabian prison for alleged derogatory posts on Facebook about Islam and a Saudi Arabian prince in February 2020.
In a hearting on Tuesday, 8 August, the high court also directed the Union government’s counsel to inform the court about the procedure in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for filing pardon petitions in such cases with charges of blasphemy, treachery, or sedition.
The senior advocate for petitioner Shailesh Kumar’s wife Kavitha Shailesh argued in the court that not only should a copy of the conviction order be obtained, but also a copy of the confirmation order to frame an appropriate clemency petition.
The Union government counsel told the Karnataka High Court that the Indian Embassy had sought a copy of the conviction order from the jurisdictional court so that a clemency petition can be moved before the King of Saudi Arabia.
Moin Akhtar, second secretary of community welfare at the Indian Embassy in Riyadh, spoke to the court through video conferencing.
Akhtar told the court that his subordinates were making efforts to secure a copy of the sentence order and its confirmation.
When the bench asked him how many days it would take to secure the copy of the sentence order, he replied that the Saudi courts issue a copy of the order only to those convicted. Despite this, efforts were being made to secure both the copies, Akhtar told the court.
Justice Krishna S Dixit, who was hearing the petition filed by Kavitha Shailesh, directed the Union government to secure copies of both the conviction order and the order confirming the conviction at the earliest and place the same on record.
“This court understands the constraints with which diplomatic institutions like the Embassy work and notes the submission of Mr Moin Akhtar that, ordinarily, the convict is served with copies of the conviction order and confirmation order. If that be so, this court does not see much difficulty in getting copies of the same from the hands of the concerned authorities,” the court observed.
Shailesh Kumar’s problems began in February 2020 after he made a Facebook post praising the Indian government for passing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizenship.
Those posts changed his life.
Soon after he posted the congratulatory message, Kumar was severely trolled and even received threats. Unable to withstand the abuses being showered on him, he suspended his Facebook account.
But Kumar’s problems did not end there.
Kumar soon found a fake profile of his on Facebook, posting derogatory comments against the Saudi ruler, the Holy Quran, and Islam.
In a panic, he went to the police in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, and reported the matter. On 23 February 2020, he was arrested and sent to jail.
Kumar’s wife Kavitha suspects that one of her husband’s former roommates was behind the fake profile.
Kumar’s nephew, advocate Shreyas SK, earlier told South First that the Riyadh police, instead of registering his uncle’s complaint, arrested him and put him in prison.
The Mangaluru police, probing the case, submitted to the court in an earlier hearing that the social media giant was not cooperating with the investigation and had not yet provided the details of the person who had created Kumar’s fake profile.
The police made the submission when asked about the delay in investigating the case.
