KOCHI: The Ernakulam Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate on Saturday adjourned the hearing of a petition alleging disrespect to National Anthem by Sashi Tharoor MP to August 31.Then Magistrate M Manoj will also take a final decision on a petition filed by Tharoor praying that the court should summon the Compact Disk (CD) which contains the visuals of the controversial meeting. The CD is currently in the possession of the Federal Bank.Joy Kaitharath, general secretary, State Human Rights Protection Centre, in his petition against Tharoor alleged that the latter after delivering the Hormis Memorial Lecture here on December16, 2008, interrupted the National Anthem to urge the audience to place their palms over the heart as people in the US do, instead of the Indian practice of merely standing in attention. Earlier, the court had found that there was a prima facie ground to proceed with the complaint against him that he had committed offences under Section 3 of the Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act. Later, the court granted bail to Tharoor after his personal appearance.Tharoor submitted that the viewing of the CD will clear all misunderstandings in this regard. The CD is an essential material and relevant in this case. Summoning any document and inspecting it at any stage of the inquiry is the discretion of the court. Strongly objecting to the contention made by Tharoor, the counsel of Joy Kaitharath argued that it is not fair to go through the evidences at the preliminary stage. The evidence can be verified after the framing of charges.
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