Lawyer moves Kerala High Court seeking probe into alleged heckling of Governor Arif Mohammad Khan at Kannur University in 2019

A lawyer has moved the Kerala High Court seeking a police probe into the alleged heckling of Governor Arif Mohammed Khan during a conference at Kannur University in December 2019 [Adv KV Manoj Kumar v State of Kerala & Anr.]..The petitioner, advocate KV Manoj Kumar has challenged the decision of the Judicial Magistrate to not order an investigation into the incident on a complaint moved under Section 156(3) Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).The petitioner contended that in September, he had moved an application before the Judicial Magistrate since the police allegedly did not act when he filed the complaint earlier. But instead of ordering the investigation, the judge posted the case for recording the sworn statement of the petitioner, the plea said. .The petitioner submitted that the incident was a result of a “criminal conspiracy” by the Vice Chancellor of Kannur University, Gopinath Ravindran.“Since the alleged criminal conspiracy was hatched in Delhi as disclosed by the Hon’ble Governor, a detailed and proper investigation into the case is indispensable to book the culprits who worked behind the larger conspiracy. It is very evident that mere inquiry into the case by examining witnesses would be of no use at all. Hence the order of the JFCM-1, Kannur, for recording the statement of the petitioner and other witnesses under Section 202 of the code of Criminal Procedure would be an exercise in futility,” the petition stated..The petitioner further submitted that even though he was not an eyewitness to the alleged incident, he made the complaint “to set the criminal law in motion in public spirit”.He also pointed out that though a report had been called from the Raj Bhavan about the incident, Ravindran had refused to submit such a report and the police had also not registered any case nor conducted any probe..The plea argued that any person could set the criminal law in motion since the incident at the 80th History Congress “was a crime against society posing danger for public order.”The plea said that since the Station House Office (SHO), Kannur, didn’t take action on the petitioner’s complaint, he approached the JFCM, Kannur praying for an investigation of the case under Section 156(3) CrPC.“It is understood that the police, even without recording the statement of the Hon’ble Governor, and his ADC whose shirt was torn by the protestors, arrived at a conclusion even without recording the statement of either the Hon’ble Govenor or his ADC whose dress was torn by the aggressive protestors,” the petitioner alleged in his petition.The petitioner argued in his plea that even for examining the Governor before the court, it would not be possible to secure his attendance in light of the constitutional bar under Article 361 of the Constitution and section 133(1)(vi) of the Code of Civil Procedure..“The Magistrate “committed a grave error” in not ordering an investigation into the alleged offense of manhandling a constitutional functionary of the stature, the Governor and passed an order for recording the sworn statement in a casual manner, merely on the whims and fancy of the course, which would tantamount to a miscarriage of justice,” the petitioner contended.Therefore, the petitioner moved the court to set aside the order of the JFCM-1 and to order an investigation into the incident.The petitioner is represented by advocates T Asaf Ali, Thankachan Mathew and Laliza TY.