Kochi, Nov 8 (IANS): Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader M.V. Jayarajan was Tuesday sentenced to six months imprisonment by a division bench of the Kerala High Court in a contempt of court case.

The verdict was given by a bench comprising Justice V. Ramkumar and Justice P.Q. Barkath Ali who said his statement last year about judges was demeaning.

The leader was taken away by the police and would be lodged in the Thiruvananthapuram Central prison. He also has to pay a penalty of Rs.2,000.

In July last year, Jayarajan spoke unparliamentarily words in the manner the judges pass judgments after the high court ruled that there should be no wayside public meetings.

A three-member full bench comprising Chief Justice J. Chelameswar, Justice A.K. Basheer and Justice K.M. Joseph decided in October last year to go ahead with the contempt proceedings.

The 50-year-old Marxist is the first political leader in the state to be jailed in a contempt of court case. The court also refused to stay the verdict till the time he goes in appeal to the Supreme Court.

Jayarajan is a two-time legislator of the CPI-M and presently a state committee member who hails from Kannur and is considered a firebrand leader of the party.

As the trial progressed, on one occasion he lashed out at the judiciary and remarked that he is being denied natural justice.

Reacting to the verdict, CPI-M Kannur district secretary P. Jayarajan said that for a communist a jail term is irrelevant.

"It should be noted that the Kerala we see today was made possible because numerous communists served jail terms. So this is n