Thiruvananthapuram: Four years after being charged with misbehaving with a woman air passenger, Kerala minister P J Joseph faces a fresh controversy as a court today summoned him for allegedly sending "blank" SMSes to a woman from his cellphone.

 Joseph, a Kerala Congress (M) nominee in the Congress-led UDF Ministry, was asked by first class judicial magistrate Ravi Chand of Thodupuzha in Idukki district to appear before the court on October 22.

The summons was sent based on the complaint of the woman where she accused Joseph of repeatedly sending 'blank' SMS to her phone from his cellphone some months back. The woman had allegedly received the name, spelt as "Josap", on her phone.

The cyber case against the water resources minister was taken up suo moto by the magistrate based on statements taken from witnesses.

The case has been registered under Section 511 (moral guilt) of IPC and Sec 6 of the Information Technology Act.

Joseph, whose party was earlier a component of LDF, had to step down from the V S Achuthanandan cabinet in 2007 after he faced charges of misbehaving with a woman passenger on a Chennai-Kochi flight, but was acquitted in 2009.

About a year back, he disbanded his Kerala Congress(J) and joined Kerala Congress (M) faction to become part of UDF.

Reacting to the court decision, Joseph said he was confident of proving his innocence as the allegation was unfounded. He also rejected the LDF's demand for his resignation in view of the development.

Tags: blank SMSes to woman, Kerala minister