The Supreme Court on Friday decided to consider a plea seeking the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against Tamil Nadu minister and DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin for his contentious comments regarding ‘Sanatana Dharma.’
The plea also raised concerns about a purported ‘Sanatana Dharma Eradication Conference,’ where these remarks were allegedly made, igniting a political controversy.
In addition, the petitioner also called for the appointment of a nodal officer. The plea demands immediate investigations by the Home Secretary and the CBI Director into the event’s background and funding sources.
Notably, it urges the Tamil Nadu Higher Education Department not to host Sanatana Dharma-related events in secondary schools.
The bench, consisting of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi, heard the writ petition filed by Chennai-based lawyer B Jagannath. The petition called for a directive restraining Stalin and others from making further remarks about ‘Sanatana Dharma’ and a declaration that the conference held on September 2 in Tamil Nadu, organised by the Tamil Nadu Murpoku Ezuthalar Sangam, was unconstitutional.
The petition, represented by Advocate-on-Record Gopalan Balaji, argues that the conference had a deliberate agenda to target Hinduism and propagate hatred through offensive and derogatory language.
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At the outset of today’s hearing, Justice Bose advised Senior Advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu, representing the petitioner, to approach the high court with this request. However, Naidu persisted in his demand for the Supreme Court’s intervention, highlighting the interim relief granted by the court in other applications seeking action against hate speech.
Although the bench initially expressed reluctance to entertain the petition, it eventually accepted the senior counsel’s appeals to issue notice.
Justice Bose also expressed disapproval of litigants directly approaching the Supreme Court, stating, “Why can you not go to the high court? You are converting us into a police station.”
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Udhayanidhi Stalin, the son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, came under light earlier this month for his remarks comparing ‘Sanatan Dharma’ to diseases like ‘malaria’ and ‘dengue,’ advocating for its elimination due to its perceived association with the caste system and historical discrimination.
This not only ignited a major political controversy but also resulted in several criminal complaints being filed against Udhayanidhi and petitions being filed in the Supreme Court seeking action against him.
There are currently four cases before the Supreme Court, all seeking action against DMK leader Udaynidhi Stalin. Two of these are interlocutory applications filed in a case related to hate speech, which is currently being heard by a bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna.