New Delhi
In an interim order, the Supreme Court on Monday stayed criminal proceedings initiated against Tamil Nadu BJP President K. Annamalai who in an interview in October 2022 claimed that it was a Christian NGO that had first filed a case to ban use of crackers during Diwali.
Observing that prima facie no case of hate speech is made out, a bench presided over by Justice Sanjiv Khanna ordered stay on further proceedings pending before the trial court.
The bench, also comprising Justice Dipankar Datta, issued notice to the complainant V. Piyush the social activist who had instituted a case before the Salem’s magistrate court against Annamalai. The matter is ordered to be listed in the week commencing April 29, 2024.
Recently, the Madras High Court dismissed the petition filed by the BJP leader seeking quashing of the criminal case. A bench of Justice Anand Venkatesh observed that the interview of Annamalai disclosed a divisive intent on the part of the petitioner to project that a Christian NGO was acting against Hindu culture.
Annamalai had given an interview on October 22, 2022, just two days before Diwali that year, alleging that it was a Christian NGO that had first filed a case to ban use of crackers during the festival.
In his petition, the complainant alleged that the BJP leader had deliberately fanned communal hatred by lying that it was a missionary NGO that filed a case against bursting crackers during Diwali celebrations. The Salem magistrate court had taken cognisance of the complaint and issued notice to BJP leader against which he had moved the Madras High Court.
