Kerala High Court has ordered a new notice to ex-MLA PV Anvar after the previous one went unclaimed in an illegal phone tapping case. The case involves serious privacy breach claims and demands a CBI probe.
Kochi: Today, On May 04, The Kerala High Court has ordered that a fresh notice be sent by speed post to former MLA PV Anvar in a case related to alleged illegal phone tapping of senior police officials.
The matter came up before Justice PV Kunhikrishnan during the hearing of a petition filed by Kollam-based businessman Murugesh Narendran, who has sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the issue.
The Court gave this direction after being informed that the earlier notice sent to Anvar was returned unclaimed.
The judge made an oral observation stating,
“He must be somewhere due to the elections (Ayal electionill evdenkilum aayirkyum). Issue fresh notice to respondent number 13 (PV Anvar). You file petition to take steps to complete service.”
The judge was told that Anvar might be busy with the upcoming Nilambur by-elections, where he is contesting as an independent candidate with the support of the Trinamool Congress.
Anvar has had a varied political career, having earlier been associated with both the Indian National Congress and the Left Democratic Front.
During the hearing, the counsel for petitioner Murugesh Narendran, Advocate Peeyus A Kottam, expressed concern about Anvar not responding to the Court notice.
He said,
“Why is police not registering an FIR against him? Notice which was sent to MLA has come back unclaimed. Anything can happen in this State.”
The lawyer also argued that Anvar was intentionally avoiding service of the notice and was “playing hide and seek.”
Kottam further submitted that Anvar had openly admitted in a press conference that he had tapped the phone calls of several people, including Narendran, senior police officers, and politicians.
According to Kottam, Anvar said that he carried out the phone tapping to expose criminal activities involving top police officers and political figures.
The counsel stressed that this act was a serious violation of fundamental rights such as the right to privacy and freedom of speech. He said the act also went against laws such as the Telegraph Act, the Information Technology Act, and the Official Secrets Act.
Despite the public admission, no FIR was registered by the police, which led Narendran to approach the High Court.
Justice Kunhikrishnan asked why there was a delay in completing the service of the earlier notice sent to Anvar.
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The judge also noted that the police had submitted that only non-cognisable offences were made out against the former MLA.
However, Kottam disagreed with the police stance and said that the failure to even register an FIR despite the serious nature of the allegations was unacceptable.
He maintained that the police should have at least acted upon Anvar’s public statements and taken the necessary legal steps.
Finally, the Court ordered that a fresh notice be sent to PV Anvar by speed post, ensuring that the service of the notice is properly completed in the case.
Case Title:
Murugesh Narendran v Union of India & ors
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