CHENNAI: The state government has accorded permission to prosecute BJP’s state president K Annamalai under sections of IPC, by the order of the governor. The permission came based a complaint by V Piyush of Salem with the district collector following which the latter requested sanction of prosecution from the state under Section 196.
According to a GO issued by public (L&O department) secretary K Nandakumar, Piyush lodged a complaint regarding Annamalai’s speech in Salem last September. Annamalai cited an incident relating to the year 1956 when Forward Bloc leader Muthuramalinga Thevar allegedly threatened former chief minister CN Annadurai and PT Rajan by saying that if the non-believers spoke about Hindu faith as they do, instead of offering milk to Madurai Meenakshi Amman, human blood would be offered for Abishekham. Annamalai also claimed that Annadurai apologised to Thevar and ‘ran away’ from Madurai.
Piyush urged the Salem collector to take action against the speech which would promote enmity between different groups. Subsequently, the Salem district collector requested for sanction of prosecution under Section 196 as mandated by law.
The order said that after careful consideration and deliberation and scrupulous study of the materials independently, the government is stratified that Annamalai’s statement is to promote disharmony, feelings of enmity, hatred and ill-will between different groups. Hence, under Section 196, the governor accords sanction for the prosecution for offences punishable under Section 153-A, sub-section(2), Section 153-B and others section to be taken cognizance by a court of complete jurisdiction.
Soon after the GO was released, Annamalai said on ‘X’ platform, “In the last 3 years, the draconian DMK govt has filed plenty of cases against me and our karyakarthas for speaking the truth & has recently issued a sanction to prosecute me yet again.”
Welcoming the sanction, he added, “I wholeheartedly thank the DMK govt for allowing us to recall what Thevar said in 1956, which they wish to erase from people’s memories.” Criticising the government, he said, “Our message to the DMK govt: You can’t stop us from exposing what is what. File as many cases as you want.”
It may be recalled that the government has already accorded permission to prosecute Annamalai for his ‘hate speech’ against a Christian missionary NGO. It was Piyush who had lodged a complaint against Annamalai following an interview in YouTube in which the BJP leader said Christian missionaries were behind the case that led to the Supreme Court restricting firecrackers during Deepavali.