Former Kerala High Court judge B Kemal Pasha on Sunday said the state government might have revoked his security cover as he used to voice his “opinion against the activities of the government and the police”, ANI reported. “It was unforeseen,” he added. “[The] government might have thought that I am not a person who requires any security.” On Saturday, Pasha had said the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Front government had suddenly withdrawn the four armed guards deputed for his security.
The judge claimed to have received threats from terror groups associated with the Islamic State in Kerala, PTI reported. “The decision was taken at the [state] home secretary-level on Friday,” he claimed.
Pasha claimed he had opposed the state government’s policies on several matters, including the alleged extra-judicial killing of four Maoists in Palakkad district in October. Pasha said he would continue to criticise the administration despite the withdrawal of his security cover. “I am an ordinary person and have always spoken for the people,” IANS quoted him as saying. “I have criticised the way things had gone in Kerala, like in the Walayar incident, clamping of UAPA [Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act] charges against two youths, a Kerala minister about use of drugs by people in the film industry. None can silence me by withdrawing my security.”
Security was first provided to Pasha in 1996, when he was a district court judge. “My judgements in several cases had irked many,” he told The News Minute. “I did not deliberately go behind sensational cases, but they came during the time I was a judge. Hence, I have a lot of enemies.”
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