Supreme Court issues notice to Udhayanidhi Stalin, for Sanatana Dharma remarks

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices in a plea seeking an FIR against Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin over his remarks on “eradicating Sanatan Dharma.” The apex court has sought a response from the minister and the Tamil Nadu government.A bench comprising Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi issued notices in response to the petition filed by B Jagannath.

The petition calls for the filing of an FIR against the Tamil Nadu minister, stating that his remarks can be equated to hate speech. The petitioner also pointed out that in similar cases, the Supreme Court has issued directives, including the registration of FIRs. Senior advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu, representing the petitioner, stated that the minister allegedly encouraged school students to express that one religion is unfavorable while the other is favorable.

Udhayanidhi Stalin, Tamil Nadu’s Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs and the son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, was accused by BJP of calling for the eradication of Sanatan Dharma, the teachings of Hinduism, and equating it with diseases like “dengue, malaria and Covid 19” at a press conference in Chennai. However, Udhayanidhi denied he called for any “genocide”, as alleged by BJP leader Amit Malviya, and stood by his claim that Sanatan Dharma “divides people in the name of caste and religion” and needed to be “uprooted”.