Kochi | The Kerala High Court on Friday sought the stand of the state government and the police on a plea moved by a woman journalist of a leading Malayalam news channel to quash the criminal conspiracy and defamation case lodged against her on a complaint by an SFI leader.

Justice K Babu asked the public prosecutor appearing for the state and the police to come with instructions regarding the journalist's plea at the next date of hearing.

The court also recorded the prosecution's undertaking that no coercive steps will be taken against the petitioner-journalist.

Five persons, including the journalist, were booked on June 9 on the basis of a complaint filed by a left-wing student leader alleging that they conspired to tarnish his image in connection with a fake mark list.

Police lodged an FIR under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code such as Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 465 (forgery) and 500 (defamation) among others against the five on the complaint by P M Arsho, the state secretary of the SFI, which is the student wing of the ruling CPI(M).

A controversy erupted on June 6 after the Kerala Students Union (KSU), the student wing of the Congress, raised an allegation displaying a mark list in which Arsho, who is a student of Maharaja's College in Ernakulam, had "passed" even though he did not attend any exam.

Arsho had alleged that there was a conspiracy behind the incident seeking to tarnish his image.

The college had later clarified that his name was seen among another batch's result and that it was a technical error.