Minister for Culture Saji Cheriyan on Thursday ruled out resignation after the Kerala High Court ordered a Crime Branch investigation into the allegation that the minister had denigrated the Constitution at a public function at Malappally in Pathanamthitta in 2022.

"Since the issue involved me, and in the interest of fairness, the court should have heard my side," the minister told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram. "Now that I have not been heard, I will take further legal measures after examining the HC verdict," he said.

He also sounded defiant. "One court (Thiruvalla Magistrate Court), based on the findings of an inquiry (police), exonerated me on the issue. Now, another court (the HC) has said I was wrong. There is a court above this. Let's see," the minister said.

He also said that this had long ceased to be a moral issue. "Since the court has not gone into the subject, there is no question of morality here. I had indeed resigned on moral grounds. That obligation no longer exists. I was sworn back in as a minister based on a court order," Cherian said.

On July 6, 2022, when he announced his resignation, Cherian had said that the decision to quit was not forced upon him. "It is my personal decision that it is not right for me to continue as a minister. Hence, I'm resigning from my minister-ship," he had said, reading out from a prepared text.

Cherian had also refused to apologise for the speech, saying his "manner of speech" was misunderstood and that certain parts of his speech were blown out of context and used for dubious political ends. "Some of my words are used widely to create confusion. It is intended to weaken the initiatives of the left democratic front and state governments' initiatives. As my speech is being used for the purpose, as a responsible public servant, the misinterpretation of my speech has made me sad," he said.

A day before he resigned, on July 5, he had told the Assembly that he had no intention of insulting the Constitution. He said he only meant to criticise the successive governments at the Centre that failed to deliver social and economic justice to the people of the country as promised in the Constitution.

"The Directive Principles of the Constitution aim to ensure social justice and economic security for all, but the Constitution doesn't have a provision that allows a citizen to move the court for the implementation of this. Directive principles need to be strengthened further if millions of the people in the country should get justice. Otherwise, the Constitution will not be strong enough to resist the increasing inequalities. I expressed these concerns in my own words. I never meant to insult the Constitution or speak against it," he said.