Assam Police can't go to Singapore to probe Zubeen Garg's death: CM Himanta
Guwahati (PTI): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said that the state police cannot travel to Singapore to conduct the investigation into the mysterious death of cultural icon Zubeen Garg.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Garg's family here, Sarma also said that Assam Police will not be able to "join the dots" if the Assamese people, who were present on the yacht at the time of Garg's death in the Southeast Asian nation, join the probe.
"Our entire concern now is whether the people living in Singapore will come or not. If they do not come, we will not be able to complete the inquiry. They were the main people behind the yacht trip," he added.
Garg died under mysterious circumstances in Singapore on September 19 while swimming in the sea. He had gone to the Southeast Asian nation to attend the 4th edition of the North East India Festival, organised by Shyamkanu Mahanta and his company.
"Assam Police cannot go to Singapore, so it cannot take up the investigation there. They are in Singapore, and it is not under my jurisdiction. Unless they come there, nobody will be able to join the dots," Sarma said.
The state CID, which is probing the untimely death of the singer, had issued notices to some members of the Assam Association, Singapore to present themselves before it by October 6.
"Their parents stay in Assam. So, we, the people of Assam, must put pressure on the parents to ask their wards to come here for the probe," the CM added.
The state CID is currently probing the case of Garg's death after more than 60 FIRs have been lodged across the state against Shyamkanu Mahanta, the chief organiser of the North East India Festival, where the singer had gone to perform, and almost 10 others, including his manager Siddharth Sharma and band members Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and Amrit Prabha Mahanta.
Already, these four people have been arrested in the case and sent to 14 days of police remand each.
Sarma further said, "The people of Assam should put pressure on the Assamese community of Singapore so that those concerned are sent here. A few of them have already written to us that they cannot come due to some problems. But they have the responsibility as an Assamese."
To bring the people concerned through law is a different thing, but it will be sooner if there is public pressure on them, he added.
"If they don't come by October 6, we will have to enter another cycle," Sarma said without elaborating.
When asked about reports of Garg's drummer Goswami's claim before the police that the singer was poisoned, the CM said that many things will be spoken during the course of the investigation.
"On October 10, the viscera report will come. So, we will come to know on October 11 what actually happened. But the police's duty is to note everything in the case diary.
"Some people will say good, some will say bad. Those are not the police's version, but statements of a witness only. It cannot be the police's version," he added.
Sarma said that the poisoning statement is not of police, but of one accused.
"Now, why has he made that statement? Is it to safeguard himself or to blame someone else -- these things will be revealed during investigation," he added.
The Assam government on Friday set up a one-man judicial commission, headed by Justice Soumitra Saikia of the Gauhati High Court, to probe the mysterious death of cultural icon Zubeen Garg.
Speaking about the commission, Sarma said, "Now, anyone who wants to speak or provide us any information relating to the mysterious death of Zubeen, they get a platform."
He said that the sitting judge will also have an opportunity to oversee the ongoing CID probe of the high-profile case.
"It is a kind of body which will also take care of the proofs and if they find that we are doing something wrong, the judicial commission will be able to be stricter on us. It will be a completely independent commission," Sarma said.
He also asserted that in Assam, never before a sitting judge was entrusted with the responsibility of inquiring any issue.
"So, this is the first instance in Assam. I hope that we will be able to bring everything into the public domain once the investigation is complete," Sarma said.
The CM said that he spent about an hour with Garg's family and reminisced about different past memories.
"It was not an official visit. I came to see the family personally and spend some time with them. I met Zubeen's father, wife and sister.
"Garima was my junior in Cotton College and I knew Zubeen and Garima for a long time. I just came to share our grief together. We did not discuss the case at all," he added.
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Pleas against ''The Kerala Story 2'' premature, misconceived: Producer to Kerala HC
Kochi (PTI): The producer of 'The Kerala Story 2-Goes Beyond' has told the Kerala High Court that the pleas opposing the film’s release are “premature, misconceived and not maintainable”.
The submission was made by the film’s producer, Vipul Amrutlal Shah, in an affidavit filed before the court on Tuesday.
Opposing the petitions, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) on Wednesday said an alternative statutory remedy of seeking revision was available to the petitioners.
It also told the court that the pleas ought to have been filed as public interest litigations, which are heard by a division bench.
The petitioners contended that the film aims to tarnish the image of Kerala and harm the reputation of its people.
They further alleged that the teaser and trailer were misleading and depicted on social media content that cannot be shown in theatres.
“They (producers) are doing indirectly, through the teaser and trailer, what they cannot do directly,” advocate Maitreyi Sachidananda Hegde, appearing for one of the petitioners, Sreedev Namboodiri, told the court.
After hearing arguments for over an hour and a half, Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas said the matter would be taken up again on Thursday and orally asked the producers not to render the proceedings infructuous, noting that the petitioners’ apprehensions “were probably genuine”.
The court observed that a revision can be sought only after watching the film, by which time it may become redundant.
“The damage may already be done by then,” it said.
Justice Thomas said the matter would be heard again on Thursday at 9.45 am.
During the hearing, the court said it cannot pass orders regarding the teaser and trailer, as no specific relief has been sought in that regard.
It also observed that there is nothing objectionable about the film’s title by itself, unless it is linked to the content shown in the teaser and trailer.
In his affidavit, Shah contended that the CBFC is the sole expert authority under the Cinematograph Act, 1952, to examine films in their entirety and certify them for public exhibition.
“The supervisory jurisdiction of this court does not extend to substituting its own assessment of a film’s content for the expert judgment of the certifying authority,” he said.
He denied the allegations in the pleas and termed them “an abuse and misuse of the process of law”.
Referring to the plea filed by Namboodiri, Shah alleged that it was filed “with a malafide intention and an ulterior motive to gain financial benefits”.
He also said the teaser was released 16 days before the filing of the plea.
He argued that the exhibition of a certified film cannot be restrained based solely on a two-minute teaser, without examining the complete film.
He further said that granting prior restraint without examining the full film, without any prima facie finding of illegality in the CBFC’s decision, and based only on a teaser, would cause “catastrophic and irreversible economic harm” to the producer, exhibitors and distribution partners.
“The film is slated for release in over 1,800 theatres across India and overseas,” Shah said.
On the title, he said the qualifier “Goes Beyond” was “not decorative”.
“It is a deliberate and conspicuous textual signal… that the film’s narrative extends beyond the geography of Kerala.
“The definite article ‘The’ refers to the first film in the franchise and does not restrict the subject matter to Kerala alone,” the affidavit said.
He also argued that if there is apprehension of protests or law-and-order issues, it is for the state to address them and not a ground to halt the release of a film.
“A scenario where any individual or group can effectively veto the exhibition of a certified film by threatening disorder would render meaningless both the CBFC certification process and the constitutional guarantee of free expression,” the affidavit stated.
The court had on Tuesday orally observed that the teaser and trailer depict Kerala, a state known for communal harmony, in a negative light.
It also noted that using the state’s name and claiming the film is based on facts could lead to communal tensions.
Three separate pleas have sought to quash the CBFC certificate granted to the film, which is scheduled for release on February 27.
Besides quashing the certification, Namboodiri’s plea also seeks modifications, including reconsideration of the film’s title.
The petitioner has alleged that the film was certified without due compliance with the statutory requirements under the Cinematograph Act, 1952.
