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Udhayanidhi’s remarks amount to hate speech: HC quashes FIR against Malviya
The Madras High Court ruled Udhayanidhi Stalin's speech on Sanatana Dharma as hate speech, criticizing DMK's historical attacks on Hinduism.
The Madras high court, in an order on January 20 said that Tamil Nadu deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s September 2023 speech , calling for the “eradication” of Sanathana Dharma, qualified as “hate speech,” and that his party, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has, for “nearly a century,” mounted a sustained “attack on Hinduism.” Stalin was State minister for youth welfare and sports development at the time of the speech.
In the order, justice S Srimathy of the Madurai bench of the Madras high court said that Udhayanidhi’s speech on Sanatana Dharma must be read in the context of his party’s ideological legacy. She added that for the past 100 years, the “Dravida Kazhagam and subsequently, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam” have consistently attacked Hinduism.
The DMK did not wish to be on record. “The party’s legal team will decide on the next course of action based on the CM’s advice,” said a DMK leader.
The judge made the observation while quashing a first information report (FIR) registered by the Tamil Nadu Police against BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya for sharing a video of Udhayanidhi’s speech on X and for questioning whether the statement amounted to a call for the “genocide of 80% of the population of Bharat” who follow Sanathana Dharma.
In her order, Justice Srimathy took note of the “historical and political context” behind Udhayanidhi’s remarks and found that his words squarely fell within the ambit of hate speech.
Malviya’s post on X was a response to Udhayanidhi’s speech and amounted to a defence of Sanatana Dharma rather than any criminal act, the judge said.
Justice Srimathy held that criminal proceedings against Malviya amounted to an abuse of process of law, as the BJP member had merely reacted to the Tamil Nadu minister’s public speech and sought explanations. Continuing the case, the court said, would cause him “irreparable harm and injury”.
The court held that Malviya did not target or pit two communities against each other and lacked any criminal intent. It found that his posts merely questioned and responded to the Minister’s hate speech. Allowing the case to continue, the court said, would cause him irreparable harm, and therefore the FIR deserved to be quashed.
The FIR against Malviya was registered by the Tiruchi city police in 2023 following a complaint by an organiser of the DMK Advocates Wing, which alleged that he distorted the Minister’s speech and spread false information to provoke enmity between groups.
The controversy arose from a speech delivered by Udhayanidhi Stalin at a “Sanathana Abolition Conference” organised by the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers Artists Association on September 2, 2023. In that address, Udhayanidhi compared Sanatana Dharma to diseases such as dengue and malaria and said that some things “have to be eliminated”.
Malviya shared clips of the speech on X and questioned whether the remarks amounted to a call for the “genocide of 80% of the population” that follows Sanathana Dharma, also asking whether such views reflected a broader opposition consensus.
Arguing for the quashing of the FIR, Malviya contended that he merely reproduced a speech already in the public domain and expressed his understanding of it.
Udhayanidhi had previously submitted that his statement on Sanatana Dharma was not against Hinduism or the Hindu way of life but was merely a call for ending caste-based discriminatory practices.
The court, in its order, also criticised the selective application of criminal law. “This Court with pain records the prevailing situation that the person who initiates the hate speech is let off scot-free, but the persons who reacted for the hate speech are facing the wrath of the law.” It noted that no FIR had been registered in Tamil Nadu against Udayanidhi for his remarks.
