Kerala Govt to approach division bench of HC on 'being Maoist is not a crime' ruling

The Government of Kerala has said that it will approach a division bench of the state High Court to withdraw the ruling of a single judge bench that has said that being a Maoist is not a crime.

On Friday, a single bench of the Kerala High Court had criticised the state police for arresting a person for being a Maoist. The court had then ordered the police to pay compensation to the individual for harassing him.

According to reports, Kerala's Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said the state government would appeal against the verdict on grounds that it would be difficult to enforce the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act under the circumstances.

The state government is also likely to challenge the Rs. one lakh compensation to be paid to the arrested individual as ordered by the court.

Meanwhile, the Ernakulam additional sessions court has approved a request of an internal security investigation team to interrogate arrested Maoist activists Roopesh and his wife Shyna.