New Delhi-based journalist Abhijit Majumder on Tuesday informed the Madras High Court of having redacted certain objectionable statements about Dravidar Kazhagam founder Thanthai Periyar, alias E.V. Ramasamy, from an article penned by him in September 2023 accusing Tamil Nadu Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin of having given a call for Hindu genocide.
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh recorded the statement made by advocate Ramaswamy Meyappan, on behalf of the journalist, regarding the redaction and decided to hear on February 13 the latter’s plea to quash an FIR registered against him by the Tamil Nadu police pursuant to the publication of the article in the opinion column of news website Firstpost.
The article, Udhayanidhi Stalin’s call for Hindu genocide does BJP a big favour in Tamil Nadu, was published online on September 3, 2023, after the Minister had in a conference on September 2, 2023 equated Sanatana Dharma to vector-borne diseases and called for its annihilation. The article had also criticised Periyar heavily.
After its publication, the police had registered the FIR under Sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 505(1)(b) (publishing statements that induces a person to commit offence against the State or against public tranquility) and 505(2) (publishing statements that create or promote enmity, hatred or ill will between classes) of the IPC.When the FIR quash petition was listed for hearing on January 8 this year, Justice Venkatesh read the opinion piece and found certain “highly condemnable and derogatory” statements against Periyar. Then, the petitioner’s counsel sought time to take instructions on redacting those portions.
Time granted
Accordingly, it was informed to the judge on Tuesday that those portions had been redacted. However, as Additional Public Prosecutor A. Damodaran and the complainant’s counsel sought time to argue against the FIR quash plea, the judge decided to hear them in detail on February 13.
