The Madras High Court has refused to quash criminal cases lodged against Tamil Nadu BJP leader H Raja for his remarks against Thanthai Periyar, also known as the father of the Dravidian Movement in Tamil Nadu, former chief minister Karunanidhi, DMK MP Kanimozhi, as well as officials of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department and their wives.
A single judge bench of Justice N Anand Venkatesh passed orders in three different petitions filed by Raja to quash a total of 11 cases and in all three orders, the judge noted that Raja has “the proclivity to make irresponsible and damaging comments and that is the reason why he gets into trouble”.
Regarding the three cases against Raja for his tweet dated March 6, 2018, on Thanthai Periyar, the court noted that Raja had addressed Periyar, who is virtually seen as a Demi-God in Tamil Nadu, a caste fanatic.
The court highlighted that in his tweet, Raja had stated that all the statues of Periyar must be broken, like how the statue of Lenin was broken at Tripura.
The court said though it is true that a person is entitled to differ from the ideologies and thoughts of Periyar, it is also a fact that whenever the statues of Periyar are attempted to be defiled, it causes a lot of disturbance and sometimes, also leads to violence.
Therefore, while stressing that even when expressing an opinion, one — especially a former MLA — cannot cross the Lakshman Rekha and make a statement that directly affects the sentiments of the people, the court held that Raja’s tweet certainly hovered around hate speech and refused to quash the cases.
However, the court ordered that all three cases be transferred to the Special Court for MP/MLA Cases at Chennai and be heard as a single case.
Further, regarding the one case against Raja for his tweet dated April 18, 2018, on ex-CM M Karunanidhi and his daughter Kanimozhi, the court said Karunanidhi is considered one of the most important driving forces of the Dravidian movement and people of Tamil Nadu carry a lot of respect for him.
“Any damaging messages on the leader will have a negative impact in society and will certainly create disturbance in the state of Tamil Nadu,” said the court.
Moreover, it highlighted that Raja’s tweet was also about Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi and it characterised her as an illegitimate child.
“The person holding a responsible post in a national party can comment upon the policies and shortcomings of the opposition party and its leaders. However, such a comment should not touch upon the personal character/status and such a comment definitely will have the propensity to cause disturbance in the society and may also lead to a law and order problem,” held the court, opining that Raja’s tweet on Karunanidhi and Kanimozhi also bordered on hate speech.
Refusing to quash the case, the court ordered it to be transferred to the Special Court for MP/MLA Cases, Erode, and directed it to complete the proceedings within a period of three months after the transfer.
Lastly, regarding the seven cases lodged against Raja for his remarks demeaning the wives of government department officers in a public speech on September 17, 2018, the court held that a bare reading of the statement made by Raja showed that it was highly defamatory and scandalous.
“When a person expresses his anguish and such a person also happens to be a public figure, every word that is uttered matters. The expression of anguish should not result in making reprehensible and scandalous remarks against others,” said the court.
For these seven cases also, the court ordered clubbing of the cases and their transfer to the Special Court for MP/MLA Cases, Srivilliputhur, for hearing as a single case.
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