New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the proceedings in a criminal case lodged against K Annamalai, Tamil Nadu BJP president, for an alleged hate speech against Christians in an interview to a YouTube channel in October 2022, in connection with firecrackers.
Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra and advocate Sai Deepak, representing Annamalai, showed the apex court the transcript of the interview to the bench and said it is not a case of hate speech.
A bench led by justice Sanjiv Khanna, after examining the transcript of the statements given in the interview, said prime facie, there is no hate speech. “No case is made out….”, said the bench, also comprising justice Dipankar Datta, adding that there shall be a stay on further proceedings before the trial court.
The apex court issued a notice to the complainant, who has accused Annamalai of making a hate speech against Christians in the interview on October 22, 2022 with regard to the bursting of crackers, two days before Diwali. “Issue notice returnable in the week commencing April 29, 2024….” the bench said in its order.
Annamalai has moved the apex court against a Madras High Court order, which declined to quash the summons issued to him in the case. The high court, earlier this month, had observed that the psychological impact on an individual or a group must also be considered under the definition of hate speech. The summons was issued by the trial court based on a complaint filed by a man named V Piyush.
The high court had said that prima facie, the statements disclosed a divisive intent on the petitioner’s part to portray the NGO as acting against Hindu culture.
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