Madras HC dismisses Seeman’s plea against appearing in court in 2019 hate speech case
Seeman had moved court seeking his discharge from the case currently in a court in Vikravandi and sought exemption from appearing in person.
The Madras high court on Thursday dismissed a plea by Naam Tamizhar Katchi (NTK) chief S Seeman challenging a case filed against him for his controversial remarks against former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The court said that no one should take advantage of Article 19 of the Constitution concerning freedom of speech.
Justice P Velmurugan refused to grant exemption for Seeman from appearing before a trial court. The case is from 2019 filed by a Congress party functionary against Seeman’s speech against Rajiv Gandhi during the campaign ahead of the bypolls at Vikravandi in Tamil Nadu. Seeman, a Tamil nationalist, had allegedly made slanderous remarks and described Rajiv Gandhi as a “betrayer” of Tamils.
Seeman had moved court seeking his discharge from the case currently in a court in Vikravandi and sought exemption from appearing in person.
The judge observed that politicians should display patience and speak in a manner that doesn’t annoy others, and added that it has become a habit for the NTK leader to make such remarks.
Seeman has often been embroiled in controversies over hate speech. Most recently, cases have been registered against him across Tamil Nadu for allegedly making slanderous comments against the Dravidian movement founder EV Ramasamy, revered as Periyar.
Seeman started his party with a goal of an independent statehood for Lankan Tamils, a year after the LTTE was defeated in the Sri Lankan war in 2009. A polarising orator, Seeman has dismissed Dravidian parties, espoused a militant Tamil majoritarian and linguistic pride. NTK’s position has been that a Tamilian should rule Tamil Nadu. NTK, posing as an alternative to Dravidian parties, came in as the third largest party with 6.7% vote share in the 2021 assembly elections and registered a 8% vote share in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.