NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Thursday exempted Tamil Nadu deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin from personal appearance in any court relating to criminal cases filed on his controversial ‘eradicate Sanatan’ remarks and barred lodging of new FIRs for the comments made at the TN Progressive Writers Artists Association in Chennai on Sept 2, 2023.
An intense hearing saw solicitor general Tushar Mehta saying the DMK leader could not afford to make similar provocative remarks about any other religion. “Does it behove a deputy CM to call for eradication of ‘Sanatan Dharma‘ like mosquitoes, dengue and malaria? Hell would have broken loose had a CM of any other state called for eradication of any other religion, say Islam,” Mehta said while appearing for the Maharashtra govt.
Appearing for Stalin Jr, senior advocates AM Singhvi and P Wilson told a bench of Chief Justice Sanjeev Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar that the FIRs could be clubbed at one place to avoid multiple criminal proceedings.
“The statement of Nupur Sharma was far more offensive. Yet, she got relief from the court,” Singhvi said.
CJI Khanna said SC is not going into merits of the alleged words spoken by Stalin Jr as any opinion expressed by it could impact the trial.
