MADURAI: Observing that making derogatory statements in public platforms and then tendering an apology to escape the consequences cannot be tolerated, the Madurai Bench of the Madras HC dismissed the anticipatory bail petition filed by actor S Kasthuri in a case registered against her by Madurai Thirunagar police over her controversial remarks about Telugu people in Chennai last month.
Justice N Anand Venkatesh, who passed the order, observed that though Kasthuri’s statement does not directly attribute anything against the womenfolk belonging to the Telugu community as alleged by the complainant, it has painted all Telugu-speaking people in a bad light.
“The petitioner’s speech clearly hovers around hate speech. In a diverse country like ours, there must be zero tolerance whenever such speech is made by demeaning or insulting a particular group of people based on their language,” he said.
Even in her apology post on social media, the petitioner has not made any genuine attempt and has only tried to justify her statement, he further observed.