Kerala HC restraints arrest of industrialist Sabu Jacob in caste-slur case

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday restrainted the arrest of Sabu M. Jacob, industrialist and chief coordinator of Twenty20, a newly formed political outfit in Kerala, over alleged caste slurs on CPI(M) legislator P.V. Sreenijin.

A case was registered against Jacob and others under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on a complaint by the legislator.

Jacob and others submitted that the legislator's complaint did not have the essential ingredient of an offence under the SC/ST Act.

The court, while pointing out that there was no need for an arrest, said that Jacob and others can be questioned by the police after serving them the notice as prescribed by the law.

Jacob-led Twenty20 is currently ruling four village councils in the district.

The complaint of the legislator was that since he hailed from a lower caste, he was being boycotted by Jacob and his political outfit, but the court ruled otherwise.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, the court posted the case filed by Jacob and others to quash the FIR in the case to be taken up after the Christmas break of the court.

Jacob and the CPI (M) have not been on good terms for some time. Last year he sprang a surprise when he decided to invest over Rs 3,000 crore in Telangana and was invited by the Telangana government which brought him to Hyderabad on a chartered flight.

-IANS Inputs