NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday told Tamil Nadu Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin that he cannot compare himself with media personnel to seek immunity and relief like them regarding the clubbing of multiple FIRs filed against him in six states for his alleged “eradicate Sanatana Dharma” remark. “You (Stalin) have made the said statements voluntarily and you cannot claim immunity like them,” a two-judge bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said on Monday.
The top court made the observations after hearing a petition filed by the Stalin scion seeking the court’s direction to club the FIRs registered against him. He sought the relief by relying on various judgments rendered by the Supreme Court in cases involving journalists such as Arnab Goswami, Amish Devgan, and Mohammad Zubair, and others. The bench listed the matter in the week commencing on May 6 giving the minister time to amend his plea in view of “legal issues”.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Stalin, cited several cases including that of journalists and politicians like Nupur Sharma.
SC: Nupur case not on same pedestal as Udhaya’s
Singhvi said the court has exercised writ jurisdiction under Article 32 of the Constitution to transfer and club multiple FIRs lodged in different states in those cases. Singhvi said the law applicable to the case of Nupur Sharma, a former BJP spokesperson who was suspended by the party for allegedly making objectionable remarks against Prophet Mohammed, is equally applicable to the petitioner as she is a “pure politician”. Justice Datta said the case of Nupur Sharma is also not on the same pedestal as that of the minister (Stalin).
The bench also questioned Singhvi why he was pursuing an Article 32 petition when the remedy lies under Section 406 of CrPC for clubbing and transferring of FIRs. “In some cases, cognisance has been taken and summons have been issued. Judicial proceedings cannot be touched by the Supreme Court under writ jurisdiction,” Justice Datta said.
Singhvi, along with senior advocates P Wilson and Chitale appearing for Stalin, sought time to file a compilation consisting of further FIRs/summons filed in Rajasthan and a submission note regarding the court’s query on the Supreme Court’s power to club and transfer FIRs. Singhvi submitted that in most of the cases, section 406 was not applied by the top court.
Udhayanidhi Stalin had compared ‘Sanatana Dharma’ to diseases like ‘malaria’ and ‘dengue’ in his speech. Following this, several criminal complaints were registered against him and petitions were filed in Supreme Court seeking action. Multiple FIRs were also registered against him in Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar and Karnataka.