On December 14, the Madras High Court quashed an FIR registered by the Madurai city cybercrime Police against YouTuber Maridhas over a tweet. In the order, Justice GR Swaminathan said that the offences mentioned in the FIR were not made in the tweet.
Maridhas had posted a tweet after the IAF Chopper crash in which former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Late General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 others lost their lives. In the tweet, he said, “Is TN turning into another Kashmir under the DMK regime?” Later he had deleted the tweet. However, a complaint was filed against him by Balakrishnan, a functionary of DMK.
In another tweet, Maridhas alleged that many DMK supporters have been posting emojis mocking the death of an army commander in the accident. “They do this every time”, wrote the YouTuber adding that DMK is the “best choice for separatist forces”. This Tweet was available at the time of writing this report.
Based on the complaint, the Madurai city cybercrime Police filed an FIR against him under Sections 124 (A) (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code. He was also booked for under sections 505 (ii) (publishing a statement with intent to cause fear among the public) of the Indian Penal Code.
BJP leaders, including state president K Annamalaihad, had opposed his arrest on December 11. Annamalaidhad had said his arrest has “seriously violated the freedom of expression available to all guaranteed by law. The BJP Tamil Nadu would fight tooth and nail to get all of them out of their judicial confinement. Our party would take care of them and their families in all respects.”