CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Thursday refused to quash a case pending before the judicial magistrate court in Salem against BJP’s Tamil Nadu State chief K Annamalai for making a statement, on the Supreme Court’s ban on bursting crackers during Deepavali.
Noting that the TN BJP chief's statement had a potential to whip up communal frenzy, the Madras HC asked him to face trial.
Justice N Anand Venkatesh dismissed the petition filed by Annamalai after finding the adverse impact of the statement made him.
The judicial magistrate court issued a summons to the former IPS officer after finding a prima facie case made out against him for inciting enmity between different groups, under sections 153 A and 505 (1) (b) of Indian Penal Code.
The summons were issued based on a petition filed by rights activist Piyush Manush alleging that Annamalai’s interview on a YouTube channel was aimed at creating enmity against Christians as he alleged that it was a Christian NGO that had filed the first case against bursting of crackers.
“Prima facie, the statements disclose a divisive intent on the part of the petitioner to project as if a Christian NGO is acting against Hindu culture. The intent can be gathered from the fact that the statements were made two days before the Diwali festival. The intent can also be gathered from the fact that this particular extract of the interview was culled out from the main interview and it was shared on the Twitter handle of his party,” the judge said in the order.
Pointing out that being a mass influencer Annamalai, who is a former IPS officer and is expected to know the laws of the land, his statements will hurt the Hindu religion.
“The target of his speech is aimed towards a particular religious group,” the judge observed.
He added, “It also whips up a communal fevour.”
The judge reasoned that there “exists a prima facie intent to create hatred towards a particular religion” and the statements of Annamalai have a lot of impact and have psychological impact on the targeted group.
Disapproving of the contention of Annamalai’s counsel that Piush Manush is not a man of good character and he is having malafide intention, the judge said if the law insists that the complainant must be a paragon of virtues, then not many are eligible to give complaints.
Referring to the potential of the statements to incite trouble, the judge noted that the permanent data is available forever, and it can be used at any time to whip up a frenzy.
Justice Venkatesh stated that the judicial magistrate had made a well-considered order setting out the reasons which impelled him to issue the summons against Annamalai and it is very rare to see such an order at the magistrate level through application of mind.
“If the purpose of religion is not understood, it can take away the sense of neutrality and ability to think in terms of rationality and individuality. That is why Karl Marx sarcastically said that religion is the opium of people. This statement will prove to be true if the real purpose of religion is not understood and it is attempted to be used belligerently by blind adherence to the rightness or virtue as imposed by bare texts. If religion becomes a bellicose jingoism, it can prove to be fatal to the secular fabric of this country,” the judge said.