The Supreme Court’s verdict on Friday upholding the High Court’s conviction of Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] leader M.V. Jayarajan in a contempt of court case for his derogatory speech against High Court judges could not have come at a more inappropriate time when the party’s district conference is under way at Koothuparamba here.
The district conference of the CPI(M) being held at Koothuparamba from January 29 was overshadowed by the apex court’s judgment upholding his earlier conviction by the High Court for using derogatory words against the judges during a protest meeting in June 2010 against the court’s ban on roadside public meeting.
Leadership reticent
The CPI(M) leadership that had hailed the Supreme Court’s earlier order in November 2011 granting bail to Mr. Jayarajan is now reticent about the apex court’s final verdict in the case. Mr. Jayarajan had been sent to the Central Jail in Thiruvananthapuram after sentencing him to six months’ prison term in November 2011.
He had been granted bail by the Supreme Court after he served a week in jail.
Jayarajan’s reaction
Reacting to the Supreme Court verdict, Mr. Jayarajan, who was former MLA, said that he accepted the apex court’s verdict. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the party’s district conference at Koothuparamba on Friday, he said that imprisonment and torture were nothing new for Communists.
He said that he would accept the verdict instead of submitting a review petition.
Though the CPI(M) leadership is yet to react to the latest Supreme Court verdict, party leaders had all along been critical of his conviction by the High Court in the contempt case. Their stand was that Mr. Jayarajan in his speech was expressing his criticism of the judiciary.
The party leadership here had also portrayed the whole controversy over his use of a pejorative word against the High Court judges as a creation of the media.
