Madras HC Quashes FIR Against Ex-DGP Accused Of Forwarding Offensive Whatsapp Message About CM MK Stalin

The case began when Natraj was accused of distributing a message in a WhatsApp group of 73 members that allegedly contained inflammatory content about CM Stalin, with the intent to incite enmity between groups. This led to an FIR filed by the Inspector of Police in Trichy, citing various charges under the IPC, including Sections 153, 153A, 504, 505(1)(b), 505(1)(c), and 505(2), as well as Section 66D of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008.

A Bench of Justice G. Jayachandran ruled in favor of quashing the proceedings after Natraj expressed sincere regret and agreed to circulate an affidavit of apology in the WhatsApp group where the message was originally shared.

Senior Counsel Mr. B. Kumar appeared for the Petitioner and Advocate General Mr. P. S. Raman appeared for the Respondents.

Natraj contended that the message was shared within a private group and that he was being wrongfully accused since the actual creator and distributor of the offensive message was not held accountable. He submitted an affidavit to the court expressing his respect for Chief Minister Stalin and stated he would neither endorse nor support the offensive message further.

The State indicated that if Natraj genuinely regretted his actions and circulated the affidavit in the same WhatsApp group, they would not pursue the prosecution. The complainant also agreed that forwarding the affidavit to the group would resolve the matter to her satisfaction.

The Court noted, “Today, when the matter taken up for consideration, the petitioner has filed an affidavit regretting for the conduct of accusation made against him and he has recorded his regards to Mr.M.K.Stalin, Chief Minster of Tamil Nadu in unequivocal terms. Further, he has stated that, he will not subscribe or endorse to the alleged message in any manner whatsoever.”

Given these assurances, the Court accepted the petition and annulled the criminal proceedings. The court mandated that Natraj distribute the affidavit to the WhatsApp group by a specified deadline.

Cause Title: R.Natraj v. The Inspector of Police & Anr.

Appearance:

Petitioner: Senior Counsel Mr. B. Kumar, representing Govind Chandrasekar

Respondents: Advocate General Mr. P. S. Raman, assisted by Additional Public Prosecutor R. Muniyapparaj and G. Prabhakaran