The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently quashed the criminal cases filed against eight students who had protested against a conference titled “Eradicate Sanatana Dharma” in Madurai. Quashing the FIR, the Bench of Justice R Vijayakumar noted that the students opposed the conference through a peaceful and democratic protest and caused no damage to property.
“The petitioner and others, who belong to a Student Association, had conducted a protest in front of a Conference Hall, where a meeting was conducted for eradication of Sanatana Dharma. The petitioner and others have raised their agitation in a peaceful and democratic manner, and further, there is no allegation of any damage to any public property,” the court observed.
The court said that the continuation of criminal proceedings against the students would amount to abuse of process of law. “In such circumstances, continuation of the criminal proceedings would only be an abuse of process of law. The other accused persons also stand on the same footing as the petitioner,” the court said.
The decision was delivered on a petition challenging an FIR that was registered by the Thallakulam Police in September 2023 against petitioner M Senthoorvelan and seven others. The students were booked under Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 290 (public nuisance) of the Indian Penal Code.
It was alleged that the students had gathered outside the conference hall where the conference was taking place. They continued to protest despite the warnings of the police and allegedly blocked a road, causing inconvenience to members of the public. The petitioner was named as accused number 5 in the FIR.
The petitioner’s advocate apprised the court that the petitioner was a law student and the protest he participated in was peaceful. He pointed out that the police did not file a chargesheet in the case for about three years after the lodging of the FIR. The prosecution said that the chargesheet had been prepared but not filed, though he could not cite any reason for the delay.
After hearing both sides, the High Court concluded that if the criminal proceedings were allowed to continue, it would be an abuse of the process of law against the petitioner and other accused. Therefore, the court quashed the criminal proceedings going on against the petitioner as well as the other accused, holding that all the eight accused stood on the same footing.
The Background of the Case
The “Eradicate Sanatan Conference” was organised by Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association at Kamarajar Arangam, Teynampet in Chennai on 2nd September.
At the conference, Tamil Nadu CM Stalin’s son, Udhayanidhi Stalin, made derogatory comments against Hinduism, saying that Sanatan cannot simply be opposed but has to be eradicated. He also likened it to mosquitoes and coronavirus.
Udhayanidhi Stalin congratulated the organisers of the conference for its success. “The title of this conference has been excellently coined. You’ve named it ‘Eradicate Sanatan Conference’ and not ‘Oppose Sanatan Conference’,” he had declared, congratulating the organisers.
