Kerala HC slaps criminal contempt charge on minister

Kochi, Feb 2 The Kerala High Court on Tuesday slapped charges of criminal contempt against Culture and Information Minister K.C. Joseph for lowering the dignity of a judge through a Facebook post.

Acting on a petition filed by CPI-M legislator V. Sivankutty that Joseph, through his Facebook post last year, had lowered the dignity of Justice Alexander Thomas, the division bench of Justice Thottathil Radhakrishnan and Justice Sunil Thomas asked him to appear in person on February 16.

The bench also expressed its ire against the Advocate General's Office for not acting on time on the petition, and decided to slap a criminal contempt charge against the minister.

Last year, Justice Thomas, in the course of a hearing, had come down heavily on Advocate General K.P. Dhandapani saying it was high time the office was shut down.

Following the court's statement, Joseph made a tongue-in-cheek remark on Facebook.

His remark caused a furore, leading to Sivankutty filing a petition against him.

Asked about the latest development, Joseph declined to speak to the media.