Published Nov 12, 2023 | 5:20 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 12, 2023 | 5:20 PM
Kerala Assembly Speaker AN Shamseer. (File photo/KB Jayachandran)
The case lodged against members of the influential Nair Service Society (NSS) for their namajapa (chanting of names) protest over Kerala state Assembly Speaker AN Shamseer’s alleged remarks about a Hindu deity has been closed, police said on Sunday, 12 November.
An officer of Cantonment Police Station in Thiruvananthapuram, where an FIR was registered in connection with the protest, said a closure report had been filed in the concerned court.
The Cantonment police registered an FIR against NSS Vice President Sangeeth Kumar and a thousand other identifiable members of the organisation in connection with a protest march held on 2 August.
After the NSS moved the Kerala High Court to quash the FIR and the court put further proceedings in the case on hold, the police sought the legal opinion of Assistant Public Prosecutor (APP) Manu R on whether to proceed with the matter.
The prosecutor had advised the police to drop further investigation into the case and to file a final report to that effect before the jurisdictional court.
The reason given by the APP was that the namajapa protest “was not illegal, restricted or regulated and the continuation of the investigation would be an instance of abuse of process under the law”.
The prosecutor had also said: “So as to ensure and retain communal harmony and for peace in society and for other social reasons, I am also of the opinion that it is a fit case to drop further action.”
The APP had further said the “very foundation of the case itself was doubtful” as no violence or damages were reported due to the procession that was held from Palayam to the Pazhavangadi Ganapathy Temple, a few kilometres away, in protest against Shamseer’s alleged remarks on Lord Ganapathi.
While opining that it was abundantly clear that the registration of the FIR was due to a mistake of fact, the APP had also said the official who lodged the case had committed no illegality as it was a bona fide action on his part.
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