The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the conviction of Communist Party of India (Marxist) State Committee member M.V. Jayarajan for making derogatory remarks about Kerala High Court judges and publicly ridiculing the State judiciary for ordering a ban on road-side meetings.
Though Mr. Jayarajan remained unrepentant about his comments, including the one calling the judge who ordered the ban a “sumbhan” (idiot in Malayalam), a Bench led by Justice Vikramjit Sen reduced the maximum punishment of six months' imprisonment awarded to him by the Kerala High Court for contempt of court to four weeks.
A Division Bench of the High Court had initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against Mr. Jayarajan in October 2010. He was convicted in 2011. Mr. Jayarajan was, however, granted bail by the apex court after a week in jail.