The Principal District Court of Tirunelveli granted bail to Tamil orator Nellai Kannan, who was arrested for his remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He was arrested on January 1 after the video of his speech in Tirunelveli went viral.
His bail plea was admitted by the court on Friday. The court granted him bail on the condition that he has to sign twice a day at the concerned police station.
Meanwhile, the Madras High court on Friday also directed the Tamil Nadu Government to file a counter to a plea filed by Kannan seeking quashing of the FIR registered against him for alleged provocative remarks against the Prime Minister and the Home minister.
Justice Jagadeesh Chandra posted the case for hearing on January 20, after the government advocate strongly objected to the petition seeking quashing of the case.
In his plea, Kannan alleged that police filed the FIR without conducting any preliminary investigation as mandated by the Supreme Court. He claimed that the case was entirely misconceived as he was using a colloquial term in his speech and it was not his intention to hurt any community or religious group but only to voice for the aggrieved sections.
On December 29, Nellai Kannan took part in a rally organised by the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) in which he gave a speech.
The video of his speech, which went viral on social media the next day, showed him saying, “There is one guy called Amit Shah. (Modi) is the Prime Minister but (Amit Shah) is his brain. If Amit Shah is finished off, then Modi is finished, too.” He also said, “But none of you are finishing it. Let that be to one side. I keep thinking, you all will do something.” He then looks around at the dignitaries on the dais, most of whom are Muslims.
This speech evoked sharp reactions from various quarters with BJP leaders and workers filing police complaints against Kannan. He was arrested on January 2, after several senior BJP leaders including Pon Radhakrishnan, La Ganesan and H Raja sat on a dharna on Marina beach demanding his arrest.