Senior Tamil Nadu BJP leader H. Raja has filed an appeal in the Madras High Court, seeking to quash the prison sentence imposed by a special court.The case stems from two controversial remarks made by H. Raja in April 2018 on social media. In one post, he criticized DMK MP Kanimozhi, and in another, he stated, “Just as Lenin’s statue was removed in Tripura, E.V. Ramasamy’s statue will also be removed here.”
Complaints regarding these remarks were filed by members of the DMK and Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) in Erode. The cases were subsequently heard by the special court for MP/MLA cases in Chennai.
On December 2, the special court sentenced H. Raja to six months in prison for each of the two cases, along with a fine of ₹5,000. Following this, H. Raja filed an appeal in the Madras High Court challenging the verdict.
In the petition, H. Raja argued: the complaints were filed five months after the remarks were made, and no reasons were provided for the delay.
The case, based on a complaint filed by a third party, lacked direct evidence or substantial proof.
The lower court’s decision to impose a sentence without adequate evidence was legally flawed.
Raja has requested the High Court to quash the special court’s verdict and suspend the sentence until the appeal is resolved.