Police book lawyer of Swapna Suresh for hurting religious sentiments

KOCHI: Kerala police on Friday said they have registered a non-bailable case against a lawyer of Swapna Suresh, an accused in a gold-smuggling case through diplomatic channels, for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through the social media. The lawyer was facing the case for his May 25 post in the social media criticising a State-run bus driver for his attire which, the lawyer said, was demeaning a particular religion.

''We have registered a case against one lawyer Krishna Raj. The complaint says that the lawyer had falsely claimed that a KSRTC driver was wearing white robe and that he was insulting a particular religion. We need to verify the identity of the lawyer,'' a senior police official of the district told PTI.

The case has been registered under various sections including section 295A of the Indian Penal Code, the police said. The section deals with the deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.

A photograph of the driver had gone viral and many right-wing social media handles, including that of the BJP State president K Surendran, had claimed that the driver was not wearing the uniform but a white robe. which is a traditional Muslim attire.

Later, Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) clarified that the driver was wearing a sky-blue shirt which is the uniform of its staff and the picture appeared to be like a robe due to the angle in which the photograph was taken.

Swapna Suresh, who met the media, claimed that the case was registered against her lawyer after her ''recent revelations in the gold-smuggling case'' against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his family.

''Why did not they register a case when the post first surfaced in the social media? Why are they doing it now?...,'' said Suresh.

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