Tamil Nadu deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin
NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain writ petitions seeking criminal action against
Tamil Nadu Deputy CM
Udhayanidhi Stalin for his speech in Sept 2023 calling for the eradication of ‘
Sanatana Dharma
‘.
A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Prasanna B Varale raised questions and asked the petitioners on how can such relief be sought by filing writ petitions under Article 32 of the Constitution, relating to PIL.
Sensing the mood of the court, senior Advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu, appearing for the petitioners, then agreed to withdraw the petitions with liberty to pursue other remedies available under the law.
Three petitions were filed in SC in the wake of the controversy created by Udhayanidhi’s comment on ‘Sanatana Dharma’. The petitioners contended that the speech amounted to “
hate speech
” and offended their religious sentiments.
Many criminal cases were lodged across the country, and Udhayanidhi has already filed a petition in SC, seeking consolidation of all criminal complaints, and the case is pending in the apex court.
In his 2023 speech, Udhayanidhi had claimed that ‘Sanatana Dharma’ is against equality and social justice and equated it with “mosquitoes, dengue, malaria, fever and corona”, adding that it should be stamped out like these ailments.
