Two employees of the Kerala High Court have been suspended pending enquiry for staging a skit mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre during Republic Day celebrations on Friday.
Assistant Registrar Sudhish TA and Court Keeper Sudheesh P M have been placed under suspension on the order of Chief Justice A J Desai of the High Court of Kerala. It is understood Sudhish wrote the dialogues for the skit.
The content of the skit was 'derogatory' and criticised the government, says the order issued by the High Court Friday evening. The Legal Cell and Bharathiya Abhibashaka Parishad had complained about the skit to the Chief Justice of India, the Chief Justice of Kerala High Court, the Union Law Minister and the prime minister himself.
Verdictum, an independent legal-news platform, said the Malayalam skit mocked the prime minister by using a character that resembled him. "If I say that it has medicinal value, my followers will even eat cow dung. That is my strength," the character resembling PM Modi allegedly says in the skit.
"I say 'pyara', but the public hears 'pora' (not sufficient, in Malayalam). It is because they don't love their country. Traitors," the character says. Prime Minister Narendra Modi often addresses the public by saying 'mere pyare desh vasiyon' (my beloved compatriots).
The Registrar (Vigilance) has been directed to probe the incident and submit a report at the earliest. The Registrar (Administration) has been asked to furnish "a detailed explanation as to the circumstances in which the incident took place".
