Chennai: Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko is keeping up the tempo in his sedition case by stating that he would not apologise for his speech.
After appearing in the Madras High Court this morning, he told mediapersons he will appeal against his conviction in the sedition case.
Further, he said he would accept with happiness if he was handed a life sentence in the case. But he would not apologise for what he had said, he asserted.
On 5 July 2019, the special court trying criminal cases against elected MPs and MLAs found Vaiko guilty under Section 124(A) (sedition) of the IPC and awarded one-year jail term.
Judge J Shanthi also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Vaiko, which he paid up.
The judge suspended the sentence to allow the MDMK leader to go on appeal.
Later, on a petition filed by Vaiko, the court granted him bail. The MDMK supremo was slapped with sedition case by the then DMK regime after he made some remarks during the launch of his book I am Making the Accusation.
Cases under sections 124 (a) (sedition) and 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, place of birth, residence, language) of IPC were slapped against him for supporting the outlawed LTTE.
Vaiko’s nomination in the Rajya Sabha election was accepted and he, along with five others, was declared elected unanimously to the Upper House of Parliament 11 July 2019.