CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Tuesday closed a suo motu writ petition initiated against former minister and senior DMK leader K Ponmudy over his alleged hate speech against Shaivites, Vaishnavites and women.
The court remarked that Ponmudy, holding a responsible position in the public sphere, should not have made such comments hurting the sentiments of the people concerned.
“If an ordinary person were to utter these comments, it could have been overlooked but a responsible person should not have spoken like this,” said Justice N Sathish Kumar while closing the suo motu case.
He added, “It does not augur well for people at the helm of affairs to make such comments. Sentiments of people should not have been hurt like this.”
The HC initiated the suo motu case on April 23, 2025, taking cognisance of the speech Ponmudy delivered at an event held on April 6, 2025. The court then flayed the police for not registering a case without waiting for a complaint as per the guidelines of the Supreme Court over hate speech.
Advocate General P S Raman had submitted that the former minister had simply recounted a speech delivered by a social reformer way back in 1975 and the police closed the complaints after finding no material for making out a case for hate speech.
Further, he told the court the complainants have the remedy of approaching the concerned judicial magistrates with an appeal against the closure of the complainants as per the provisions of BNSS.
As per the directions of the court, he submitted the full speech of Ponmudy and the records of the 1975 speech.
Rapping the police for closing the complaints without following due procedure of holding an inquiry with the complainants, Justice Sathish Kumar said the police should have held a proper investigation in their capacity as a law enforcing agency.