Home Secretary to appear in court

Kochi: A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday directed the State Home Secretary to appear in person before the court on July 5 to explain the steps taken on allegations of anti-national activities of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind in the State.

The Bench comprising Chief Justice J. Chelameswar and Justice P.N. Ravindran criticised the Central and State governments for their lack of �alertness in cases relating to the security of the nation. It made the observation when a writ petition filed by Abdul Samad, convener, Islam Matha Probothaka Sanghom, Kochi, came up for hearing.

The petition sought a directive to ban the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and probe the financial sources of the organisation. The petitioner also sought a directive to seize the books and other publications of the outfit, which were full of anti-national and anti-Islamic contents.

The financial source was yet to be traced out. Reports linking the organisation with terrorist outfits had appeared in newspapers. However, no action had been taken by the government, the petitioner alleged. The court observed that the attitude of both the governments towards the writ petition was �distressing�. The court pointed out that the Central government had refused to own up any responsibility saying that it was for the State government to consider banning the organisation since the alleged activities were taking place in the State.