The Supreme Court, on Monday, January 27, refused to entertain pleas seeking legal action, including registration of a first information report (FIR), against Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin over his controversial statements on 'Sanatan Dharma'. A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and PB Varale questioned the maintainability of the writ petitions filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to constitutional remedies.
The controversy stems from a speech Udhayanidhi Stalin made in September 2023 at a conference in Chennai. At the time, serving as Tamil Nadu’s Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, Stalin stated that “Sanatan Dharma was against social justice and equality and should be eradicated like malaria and dengue.” His comments sparked widespread outrage, with several groups and individuals filing complaints and FIRs against him across the country.
Stalin later stood by his remarks, refusing to apologise and reiterating, “I will say this continuously.”
Sensing that the top court was not inclined to entertain the petition, senior advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu, appearing for B Jagannath and two other petitioners, sought permission to withdraw the pleas. Subsequent to this, the petition was dismissed as withdrawn. The petitioners would be able to take other available legal recourse in the matter.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had also dismissed a plea seeking contempt action against Stalin, stating that it would be “impossible” to hear individual cases arising from his statements. The court noted, “If we start entertaining contempt, we will be flooded with it. We will not go into individual cases.”
Stalin’s plea argues that he has received life threats and faces significant challenges in appearing before police stations and courts in different regions.
(With inputs from IANS)