New Delhi, Aug 14 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice on the plea of Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin to club the cases registered against him across the country over his controversial remarks on Sanatan Dharma.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar while issuing the notice to the respondents allowed the clubbing of cases but said that the cases will have to go outside Tamil Nadu.
The Bench also allowed the Minister exemption from personal appearance before the courts concerned and said that he may appear through an authorised representative.
The Bench asked Stalin his preference of the state in which he wishes the case to be transferred.
The case pertains to Udhayanidhi Stalin, DMK leader and son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s remarks in September last year for comparing ‘Sanatana Dharma’ to diseases like ‘malaria’ and ‘dengue’.
He also advocated eliminating Sanatan Dharma on the grounds that it promoted the caste system and promoted discrimination among human beings.
This led to several criminal complaints against Udhayanidhi, besides pleas being filed in the Supreme Court seeking action against him.
The top court issued notice in one of the pleas, seeking response of the State of Tamil Nadu and the Minister.
Within days, another matter praying for criminal action against Udhayanidhi was taken up by the same bench, leading to Tamil Nadu Additional Advocate General Amit Anand Tiwari raising concerns about the volume of public interest litigations (PILs) filed over Udhayanidhi’s recent remarks.
In response to the law officer’s concern over a multiplicity of proceedings, Justice Aniruddha Bose assured that no notice will be issued but the cases will be tagged with the other one.
In October last year, the bench led by Justice Bose tagged another petition over the Tamil Nadu minister’s remarks about ‘Sanatana Dharma’ with the two other pending pleas.
The cases filed against Stalin are under various offences. Each one is different from the other. One is, separate offences. One is the same offence, but different complaints. Different charges also in a complaint.
All the cases have to be treated separately, the bench observed.
Stalin’s counsel informed the court that an Ayodhya seer has announced an award of Rs.10 crores for beheading him.
To this the judge remarked, “There can be people of this nature, but you do not take that as a threat.”
Justice Khanna asked Stalin to reply as to his preference of the most convenient state.
The names of states/cities of Kerala, Bangalore and Patna were suggested for the trial of the cases. The bench briefly considered Bangalore to be a good prospect.
The court asked all the respondents to reply within four weeks.
