The High Court on Thursday turned down the bail plea of High Court lawyer Govindh Madhusoodhanan who was arrested in connection with the incidents at Nilackal against the entry of women to Sabarimala.

The bail petition was dismissed by Justice Sunil Thomas observing that prima facie materials to connect the petitioner with the case were available. The allegation against the petitioner was that on November 17, he along with about 1,000 persons had formed an unlawful assembly in protest against the entry of women, resorted to rioting, assaulted the police, and damaged several vehicles.

According to PTI the High Court termed as “unjustifiable” the agitations launched by various groups against the Supreme Court verdict permitting entry of women of all age groups into Sabarimala. Justice Sunil Thomas said the “agitations are unjustifiable.”

Declines plea

A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court declined a plea by the Antharashtra Hindu Parishad for a directive to the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) to file a review petition against the Supreme Court verdict. The court also rejected the plea for a directive to the State government to file a proper affidavit before the Supreme Court highlighting the incidents that took place in the State after the delivery of the verdict.

The Bench of Justice P.R. Ramachandra Menon and Justice N. Anil Kumar said the law laid down by the Supreme Court was the law of the land. No power was vested with the High Court to compel a litigant to pursue a course with regard to the litigation if they were aggrieved in any manner.

Notice to govt

However, the court issued a notice to the State government and the TDB on the plea of the petitioner for a directive to the TDB not to pay any money from the devaswom fund for deployment of police forces in Sabarimala.

According to the parishad, the government had deployed more than 5,000 police personnel just for two days. The Supreme Court had never directed the State government to provide police security for the entry of women to Sabarimala.