Madras HC orders FIR against Minister K Ponmudy for hate speech by April 23
CHENNAI: Slamming Minister for Forests K Ponmudy for his “derogatory” speech against Hindu religious sects, the Madras HC on Thursday instructed the Tamil Nadu police to register an FIR against him for the “hate speech” and inform the court by April 23.
Justice N Anand Venkatesh, who issued the direction, said one FIR could be filed instead of registering multiple FIRs based on the complaints received in different places. He warned the court would initiate contempt proceedings suo motu if the police failed to file the case.
“If you don’t register (FIR), (the court) will take a suo motu contempt case. Now the court has taken cognisance (of the matter),” he told Advocate General PS Raman. When the A-G responded, saying an inquiry is being held on the matter, the judge said the police need not wait for an inquiry since the minister himself has accepted that he made the remarks.
HC judge frowns upon Minister Ponmudy’s apology for crass joke
The judge expressed his angst during the hearing of suo motu revision case against the acquittal of the minister from a disproportionate assets (DA) case by the principal sessions and district court in Vellore. He said the recent remarks were made “with full consciousness” and therefore it cannot be termed as a “slip of the tongue”.
ustice N Anand Venkatesh disapproved of the public apology tendered by Ponmudy and initially wanted the AG to inform the court by 4.45 pm on Thursday whether an FIR had been registered on the issue.
The judge further noted that the Supreme Court, which suspended Ponmudy’s conviction and sentence in another DA case with conditions, could be approached for recalling such relief given to him. He highlighted that the apex court has made it clear that FIRs shall be registered without waiting for a complaint to be lodged in cases of “hate speech”.
Pointing out the video of the derogatory speech of the minister is still on public domain and it cannot be allowed to continue, Justice Venkatesh said, “The moment I get into it, this will get a different colour. But I don’t want to.”
Stating that the law applies to everybody, the judge said that when the government takes hate speech made by others seriously, the same approach should be taken against the persons who are part of the government. The impression that somebody holding public office can get away even after making “scurrilous” statements should be wiped off, he stressed.
A public interest litigation (PIL) petition was filed in the Madras High Court on Wednesday, seeking to disqualify Ponmudy from holding public office on the ground that he has violated the oath he took as a minister by making derogatory remarks. It is yet to come up for hearing.
Ponmudy had made the controversial remarks by recalling a crass joke involving symbols of Saivism, Vaishnavism and sex workers at an event organised by Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam. According to the minister, who is one of the senior-most leaders of the party, the joke was shared in public platforms with restricted entry to adults organised by the Dravidian movement to “expose” the “obscenities” in Hindu religious texts. It led to widespread outrage, and soon after the video went viral, the DMK removed him from the post of deputy general secretary