CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Monday directed the Central Crime Branch to inform the court before arresting BJP leader S Ve Shekher, against whom a criminal case under the Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act, 1971, is pending.
This follows a submission from State Public Prosecutor A Natarajan that the accused had appeared before the police on Monday, in response to a 41-A notice, and that he has been asked to appear again on August 28, for further enquiry.
Justice AD Jegadish Chandra, before whom the bail application from Shekher came up for hearing on Monday, adjourned the matter till August 28. PP Natarajan told the judge that Shekher had uttered offensive remarks about the National Flag and Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.
“Originally, the CM had condemned the act of putting saffron cloth on the statue of former Chief Minister MGR and saffron paint on the statue of EVR Periyar. Reacting to this, Shekhar in a video said, the colours in the Tricolour represented three different religions, and wondered if the CM would desist from hoisting it on Independence Day, because it had the saffron colour.
This insult to the National Flag amounts to a criminal act, and has attracted Section 2 of the 1971 Act,” Natarajan added. Following a complaint from one Rajarathinam, cops registered a case against Shekher, on August 13.
COURT appearance
In response to a 41-A notice, S Ve Shekhar has been asked to appear again on August 28, for further enquiry regarding the offence