Courts can criticise but not belittle petitioners, says Kerala Leader of Opposition Satheesan

KOCHI: A day after the Kerala High Court asked if the public interest litigation filed by Leader of Opposition in Assembly V.D. Satheesan was for "public interest or publicity interest", the Congress leader on Tuesday held that it is fine for the courts to criticise, but not "belittle" petitioners.

Talking to media persons at Kannur, Satheesan said he approached the Court seeking CBI probe into the state government's Kerala Fibre Optic Network (K-Fon) project.

"How can that be for publicity? It's when speaking at a public meeting or to the media that one gets publicity and not when one approaches the court. Being a lawyer, I know what is a PIL and the Constitution. The public believes that if justice is not received from government, then they approach the judiciary.

"When I went to the court seeking justice, I was not criticised, instead I was belittled. When people occupying responsible positions approach courts for justice, if they get belittled, the people will lose faith in the system. We are watching the proceedings of the Court with lot of respect,: he added.

K-Fon, the pet project of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, promised free Internet for two million households besides 30,000 government offices. Launched in 2017 with a completion period of 18 months, it was to be done through a new optic fibre pathway created in parallel to the electric power network of the Kerala State Electricity Board Ltd. (KSEB).

Satheesan, in his petition, alleged that the project and all contracts arising from it were divided among proxies of the people controlling the government. He claimed that all the tenders involved in the project have been awarded to a single beneficiary company which is closely connected with persons in power.