Sanatana Dharma row | SC seeks response on Udayanidhi Stalin plea to club FIRs
The Hindu
The Supreme Court on May 10 issued notice to four States, a Union Territory and several individuals on a petition filed by Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin to club FIRs registered against him over his remarks on ‘Sanatana Dharma’.
The Supreme Court on May 10 issued notice to four States, a Union Territory and several individuals on a petition filed by Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin to club FIRs registered against him over his remarks on ‘Sanatana Dharma’.
A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta sought responses from the States of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bihar and Jammu and Kashmir where cases were registered against the DMK leader.
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Mr. Stalin was represented by senior advocates AM Singhvi, P. Wilson and Atul Chitle.
Mr. Stalin had argued that his petition was not about merits of the case, but focussed on the question of procedure. He said the registration of multiple FIRs was a violation of his right to fair trial and amounted to “persecution before prosecution”.
“You abuse Article 19(1)(a) [free speech], you abuse Article 25 [freedom of conscience]. Now you are coming here under Article 32 [writ protection of fundamental rights]... You are not a layman. You are a Minister. You should have realised the consequences,” Justice Datta had observed during a March 4 hearing.
Mr. Singhvi had referred to instances in the past, in the cases of TV anchors Arnab Goswami, Amish Devgan and Nupur Sharma, when the apex court had intervened and clubbed the FIRs in one place.