Bench Of Justices Aniruddha Bose & Bela M. Trivedi To Hear Tomorrow Petition Against Sanatana Dharma Eradication Conference Of Tamil Nadu
|The Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Bela M. Trivedi is scheduled to hear tomorrow, the writ petition filed against the "Sanatana Dharma Eradication Conference" held in Tamil Nadu earlier this month. On September 15, 2023, the Petition was mentioned for urgent listing, however, the Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud did not permit it and asked the Petitioner's lawyer to follow the procedure.
The writ petition, filed by Advocate B. Jagannath, who practices in the Madras High Court, contends that the conference held on September 2 in Chennai by an organization named the Tamil Nadu Murpoku Ezuthalar Sangam was conducted with the intent of eradicating a specific religion.
The Petition filed through the Advocate-on-Record Gopalan Balaji and settled by Senior Advocate P. Valliappan submits that the Conference was held specifically to target Hinduism (also referred to as "Sanatana Dharma") and to abuse, humiliate, speak in derogatory language and spread hatred towards Sanatana Dharma.
It had also been highlighted in the Petition that the said conference was attended by Tamil Nadu's Hindu Religious Charitable Endowment Minister Sekar Babu, Tamil Nadu Sports Minister Udaynidhi Stalin, President of Dravida Kazhagam Veeramani, Chairman of Tamil Nadu State Minorities Commission Peter Alphonse, Congress Party MLA, and VCK Member of Parliament Thol Thirumalvalavan.
The Petition also alleges that Udaynidhi Stalin, whose father is the Chief Minister and Home Minister, made a statement indicating that Sanatana Dharma should be completely eradicated, likening it to the eradication of diseases like Dengue, Malaria, and Covid. Additionally, it is claimed that Thol Thirumavalavan, a Member of Parliament, openly called for genocide against Brahmins and urged OBCs and SCs to unite.
Highlighting this as a classic case and a textbook example of hate speech, the petitioner seeks action against Udaynidhi Stalin for harbouring and expressing such hatred against Hindus.
"If there is no First Information Report upon complaint against Udaynidhi Stalin or PK Sekar Babu or even DK President Veeramani or at least even the organisers of the said conference even after so much of hue & cry it is clear that there is bias, favouritism & discrimination against Hindus & that even the Tamil Nadu Police is not as Religiously Neutral as the British Police & that despite the Constitution being in force in a Secular country this is unfortunately happening & it is needlessly evident to state that there has been a systematic complete breakdown of constitutional machinery in the State of Tamil Nadu", reads the Petition.
The petitioner further asserts that in a 2018 judgment, the Supreme Court mandated the appointment of a Nodal Officer to combat hate speech. However, it is claimed that Tamil Nadu Police, up to the present day, have defied the Court's order and have not appointed Nodal Officers for hate speech. It has also been stated in the petition that "Petitioner strongly condemn the actions of the Sadhu in Ayodhya who gave 10 Crore as Ransom for Udaynidhi head but that does not countenance the fact that these politicians can get away from their heinous crimes of committing Hate Speech with the open support of the Honourable CM to his own Son."
It may be noted that a total of 4 pleas have been filed before the Supreme Court seeking action against DMK leader Udaynidhi Stalin. Recently, a new application was filed before the Supreme Court seeking action against Udaynidhi Stalin for his remarks in the pending writ petition that was filed by Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay in relation to hate speech. Similarly, an interlocutory application was filed before the Apex Court seeking registration of FIR against Stalin and Member of Parliament from DMK and former Union Minister A. Raja who had made similar remarks as Stalin.
The main batch of cases relating to hate speech comprising the petitions filed by Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay and Shaheen Abdula, in both of which cases intervention applications have now been filed relating to the alleged hate speech by Udaynidhi Stalin, was last listed on August 25 before the Bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice SVN Bhatti and they were adjourned to the month of November. On the said occasion, the Bench had directed Counsel for different States to obtain instructions regarding the appointment of Nodal Officers for scrutinizing instances of hate speech.
Cause Title: B. Jagannath v. The State Of Tamil Nadu (W.P.(C) No. 001001 - / 2023)