The petition was submitted by Right to Information Activist Peter Myaliparampil
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition challenging the photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi affixed on COVID-19 vaccination certificates. The court imposed a fine of Rs 1 Lakh on the petitioner, which is to be paid to the Kerala Legal Services Authority within six weeks.
"The petition seems to be filed with political motives and a publicity motivated petition. Therefore, it deserves to be dismissed with a heavy cost," the Kerala High Court said while dismissing the petition.
The court said thousands of convicted people are in jails for criminal cases and are waiting for their appeal hearings, adding, "In such a situation, such frivolous petitions must be dismissed with a heavy cost."
The court criticised the petitioner for wasting judicial time, and asked, "Why are you ashamed of our Prime Minister?"
"There is a general trend in a section of citizens that political leaders are all corrupt people and they cannot be believed. I think, from this concept, these types of arguments are coming into the mind of the petitioner. But can anyone generalise like that? What is wrong with politicians? Since a small percentage of politicians are having a bad history, all politicians need not be ignored," a single judge bench of Justice PV Kunhikrishnan said.
There are excellent political leaders who have made great initiatives for the welfare of the country, calling them builders of our nation with innovative ideas, Justice Kunhikrishnan said.
"The Prime Minister of India is not a person who entered parliament by breaking the roof of the building. He came to power because of the mandate of the people. Indian democracy is being praised by the world. The Prime Minister is elected because he has got people's mandate," the judge said.
"Once election is over and a majority of people gave a mandate to a political party, which leads to the election of the Prime Minister, he is not the leader of that political party but a leader of the country. In the next general election, they can make use of it and remove him with people's mandate. But once a Prime Minister is elected as per the Constitution, he is the Hon'ble Prime Minister of our country and that post should be the pride of every citizen, whether the Prime Minister is X or Y," Justice Kunhikrishnan said.
The petition was submitted by Right to Information Activist Peter Myaliparampil.