Supreme Court Refuses To Issue Notice On Fresh Plea Seeking FIR For Hate Speech Against Udhayanidhi Stalin & A Raja

The Supreme Court today refused to issue notice in a Writ Petition seeking the registration of FIR against Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin and DMK leader, Lok Sabha MP from the state, A Raja, for their remarks calling for the eradication of Sanatana Dharma and also seeking contempt action against the Delhi and Tamil Nadu Police.

The Bench of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Bela M. Trivedi said that the matter will tagged with the earlier case where notice has been issued, without issuing notice in the present case. "We will not issue notice but we will tag", the Bench said. 

"These are publicity interest litigation, not public interest litigation. The other petition will have similar prayers. What is the need of another petition being entertained? There are 40 writ petitions in different High Courts. It becomes difficult for the state...", the Counsel for the state of Tamil Nadu said.

"Genocidal call has been issued by the State", the Counsel for the Petitioner said.  The Court then once again said that it is merely tagging the case with the pending matter and not issuing notice. 

The Writ Petition filed by Advocate Vineet Jindal, represented by Advocate-on-Record Raj Kishor Choudhary, seeks registration of an F.I.R. for the offences under Section 153A, 153B and 295A and 505 of the IPC and under other appropriate laws against Udaynidhi Stalin for his remarks calling for the eradication of Sanatana Dharma and likening it to diseases like Dengue, Malaria, and Covid. An Interlocutory Application was also filed by the same petitioners in a matter related to hate speech seeking similar reliefs. 

Action is sought against A Raja for allegedly stating, "Udhayanidhi Stalin was soft in comparing and claiming that it should be eradicated like malaria and dengue. But these diseases don't have a social stigma. To be honest, leprosy was seen as disgusting, and so was HIV. So, we need to see this as a disease ridden with social plights like HIV and leprosy."

The Petition states that a complaint was made to the Delhi Police seeking registration of an FIR against Stalin however no FIR was registered despite the order of the Apex Court.

It was also been submitted that Stalin's words showed his hate towards Sanatan Dharma. "He is an MLA and Minister in the Tamil Nadu Government and has taken oath to work as per the constitution of our Country and must respect all the regions but he intentionally made a provocative and defamatory statement for the Sanatan Dharma with the intent to promote enmity between groups on the grounds of religion", reads the Petition.

Recently, the Supreme Court issued notice in a similar writ petition filed against the "Sanatana Dharma Eradication Conference" held in Tamil Nadu earlier this month.

An FIR has already been registered in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh against Udhayanidhi Stalin and Priyank Kharge, the son of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for their alleged hate speech against Sanatan Dharma. Earlier, a letter had been addressed to Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud by a group of concerned individuals including the retired Judges of several High Courts and bureaucrats seeking judicial intervention of the Apex Court in the matter of hate speech made by Udhayanidhi Stalin.

Cause Title: Vineet Jindal v. Union Of India And Ors. [W.P.(Crl.) No. 443/2023]