Days after the Supreme Court booked him for his comments on Sanatana Dharma, DMK Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin today got some relief from the Madras High Court. The court today dismissed a petition challenging the continuation of Mr Stalin and two other DMK leaders as legislators.
The Supreme Court noted that Stalin's comments were “wrong” but noted that he has not yet been convicted by any court.
The 46-year-old DMK leader, son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, made the controversial comments on Sanatana Dharma last September. The comments, in which he said, “Sanatana is like malaria and dengue and must be eradicated”, had sparked a huge row.
Besides Udhayanidhi Stalin, the petitioners had sought removal of state minister PK Sekar Babu and DMK MP A Raja from the Assembly. While Mr Babu was present when Udhayanidhi made the comment, Mr Raja had endorsed his words.
Adding to his remarks, Stalin said he was targeting caste discrimination and not Hinduism. He has also said he is prepared to take legal action, but stands by his comments.
The row over his statement led to police cases in several states of the country. The DMK leader has now approached the Supreme Court requesting that the multiple FIRs be merged into one.
The Supreme Court has responded sternly. A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta upheld him and said that as a minister he should be aware of the consequences of his words.
“You are abusing your right under Article 19(1)(a) (of the Constitution). You are abusing your right under Article 25. Now you are exercising your right under Article 32 (to file a plea in the Supreme Court)? Do you know the consequences of what you said? You are not a layman. You are a minister. You must know the consequences,” the Supreme Court said on Monday.