New Delhi, Jan 21: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has quashed an FIR against BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya, observing that Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s call to “eradicate Sanatana Dharma” carries an implication akin to genocide, Bar & Bench reported.
Justice S. Srimathy held that Malviya’s social media post, which questioned whether the remark amounted to a call for genocide, was framed as a query and did not incite violence or hatred.
The court said the Tamil word “Ozhippu” (eradicate/abolish), when applied to a religion, logically extends to the people following it, and therefore Malviya’s interpretation could not be termed hate speech. The court ruled that offences under Sections 153A and 505 IPC were not made out and emphasised that reacting to an alleged hate speech cannot itself be criminalised.
