MADURAI: Observing that criminal law cannot be invoked on vague and omnibus allegations, particularly when the allegations seek to criminalise peaceful expression, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court recently quashed an FIR registered against seven Hindu Munnani cadre for holding a protest at K Pudur, Madurai, in August 2025.
Justice L Victoria Gowri passed the order on a petition filed by the cadre seeking to quash the above FIR, claiming that it was a peaceful assembly that had been wrongly portrayed in the FIR as an illegal protest.
The judge observed that Article 19 (1) (a) and 19 (1) (b) of the Constitution guarantee freedom of speech and expression, and the right to peaceful assembly without arms. The Supreme Court has also consistently held that peaceful protest is a recognised democratic right, and criminal prosecution cannot be launched unless the alleged act squarely falls within the ingredients of a penal offence, she added.
But the above FIR merely mentioned that the petitioners participated in a protest conducted by their organisation and did not contain any allegations of violence, obstruction, public nuisance, or disturbance, she noted.
Holding that the FIR appears to have been registered without application of mind and the charges mentioned were not made out against the petitioners, Justice Gowri allowed the petition and quashed the FIR insofar as the petitioners were concerned.
According to the petitioners, on August 10, members of the Religious Harmony Federation had planned to conduct a protest at K Pudur in connection with a split verdict delivered by a division bench of the high court on June 24 on the Thiruparankundram animal sacrifice issue. Though the Hindu Munnani cadre had also sought a similar permission for the same day and place, the police granted permission to the federation but rejected the application of the Hindu outfit. This led to ‘unlawful assembly’ of the outfit members, leading to registration of an FIR against at least 85 cadre from the outfit.