CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has directed the police not to take any coercive action against BJP functionary SG Suryah in connection with an FIR registered by the Salem Town police over his speech on the alleged rise in teen pregnancy during a protest.
Justice M Nirmal Kumar issued the direction on Monday while hearing a petition filed by Suryah seeking to quash the FIR registered on February 14, 2026.
Directing the respondent police to file a counter-affidavit to the petition by April 16, the judge said no coercive action shall be taken until then. Suryah, the state president of the BJP youth wing, was booked under Sections 352, 353 and 196 of the BNS for allegedly delivering a speech containing unverified statistics and for creating political hostility.
Contending that the complaint against him does not disclose any specific incident of violence, public disorder or unlawful act resulting from his speech, the BJP functionary, in his petition, stated that his speech was based on publicly available statistical and research materials regarding adolescent pregnancy trends in the state relying upon Tamil Nadu Journal of Public Health and Medical Research and were not invented assertions.
Stating that political criticism cannot be converted into a criminal offence under the penal law, he said the speech squarely falls within the protection guaranteed under Article 19 (1(a) of the Constitution.