The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the criminal proceedings against Tamil Nadu State Bharatiya Janata (BJP) president K Annamalai for alleged hate speech against Christians.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta listed the matter next for the week commencing April 29.
Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra with advocate J Sai Deepak appeared for Annamalai.
The Madras High Court had earlier in February refused to quash the criminal proceedings initiated against Annamalai, leading to the appeal before the apex court.
Annamalai, in a YouTube interview, had claimed that it was a Christian missionary NGO that had filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking ban on bursting of firecrackers during Diwali.
The High Court’s Justice N Anand Venkatesh dismissed the quashing petition filed by Annamalai and directed a judicial magistrate in Salem to proceed with the matter without being influenced by the High Court’s comments.
Justice Venkatesh stated that the case against Annamalai should serve as “a reminder to those in positions of power and influence” to exercise caution for their “words and deeds have a wider reach and impact on the citizenry of this country.”
The High Court went on to say that Annamalai had knowingly and conveniently used a petition filed before the Supreme Court on environmental issues as a vehicle to stoke “communal tension.”
Justice Venkatesh reasoned that it was time to look at what constituted hate speech differently, given the advent and reach of social media.
The complaint against Annamalai was filed by one V Piyush, a social activist.
As per the complaint filed before the Salem magistrate court in 2022, Annamalai had given an interview to a YouTube channel on October 22, 2022, just two days before Diwali that year and in that interview, he had deliberately fanned communal hatred against Christians by “lying” that it was a missionary NGO that had filed the first case before the Apex Court for a ban on Diwali crackers.
The Salem court had taken cognisance and issued summons to Annamalai following which he approached the High Court with the quashing petition.