The announcement cropped up as Justice P V Kunhikrishnan's bench was deliberating on a case filed by G Vishakan, a journalist...
Digital Desk: The Kerala High Court ruled on Monday that police could not take a journalist's phone without following the proper legal procedure.
The remark came up while the bench of Justice P V Kunhikrishnan was making decisions on a petition filed by G Vishakan, a journalist with the Malayalam daily Mangalam, requesting that police return his phone, which had been confiscated last week.
When authorities searched Vishakan's home in connection with a case against Shajan Skaria, the editor of the Malayalam web portal 'Marunadan Malayali,' the phone was seized. Skaria is charged with "intentionally humiliating" CPI(M) politician P V Sreenijin.
The court ordered police to produce a statement explaining the circumstances surrounding the seizure of the Journalist's phone. "The petitioner's grievance is that his mobile phone was seized by the police without implicating him in any crime, and he is also not a witness in any criminal case," the court noted in scheduling the case for July 21.
"I am of the considered opinion that the Journalist's mobile should not be confiscated by police authorities in breach of the rules of the CrPC. There are processes to take before taking those objects if the mobile phone is required in connection with a criminal case." the court further stated.
Following the case, the court ruled "that merely though a journalist's phone contained information about a crime, the phone could not be taken unless the proper processes were followed. The court noted that the petitioner and even members of his family were allegedly harassed in this case. This can't be allowed."
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