K. Ponmudy. File
| Photo Credit: S.R. Raghunathan
The Madras High Court on Wednesday (April 23, 2025) directed its Registry to take up a suo motu writ petition with respect to a derogatory speech delivered by Tamil Nadu Forest Minister K. Ponmudy against Saivites, Vaishnavites and women in general and to place the matter before Chief Justice K.R. Shriram for appropriate orders.
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh issued the direction after observing that the Minister had prima facie misused the liberty granted to him by the Supreme Court which had stayed his conviction as well as sentence in a corruption case thereby allowing him to not only avoid the need for incarceration but also continue as a Minister.
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“He owes his position as a Minister and enjoys the liberty by virtue of interim orders passed by the Supreme Court but has misued the liberty by making this highly derogatory speech,” the judge said and expressed displeasure over the police not having registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the Minister so far.
The judge pointed out that the Supreme Court had in a 2014 judgement come down heavily on those making hate speeches and insisted that the law enforcing agencies must act against such individuals promptly. It was the duty of the High Courts to ensure that the directives of the top court were implemented effectively, he added.
Expressing surprise over the State police not having registered a FIR despite receipt of as many as three complaints against the Minister in Chennai and Madurai, he said: “The continued inaction and hesitation of the police in registering a FIR against the Minister is most distressing and unfortunate.”
Justice Venkatesh also said: “As a constitutional court, this court is under an obligation to ensure that the Tamil Nadu Police do not pay lip service to the directions of the Supreme Court by flouting them in practice. In matters concerning hate speech, there can be zero tolerance.”
Referring to Article 144 of the Constitution which mandates that all authorities, both civil and judicial in the territory of India, must act in aid of the Supreme Court, the judge said: “The Tamil Nadu police department is no exception to the constitutional position.”
He wondered how the State police machinery, tasked with the job of tackling hate speech, could lay motionless even after the Minister tendered a public apology and was removed from the post of Deputy General Secretary of his party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
The judge said, a video clip of the speech being circulated on the social media showed the Minister to have likened the pattai (a horizontal symbol displayed by Saivites on their forehead) and tiruman (a vertical symbol sported by Vaishnavites on their forehead) to description of sexual postures by a sex worker.
“Prima facie, it is evident that the video demeaned the moral worth of sex workers particularly women and was calculated to subvert the harmony and peace among religious groups and various sects. Apart from being obscene, the speech also undoubtedly wounds the religious feelings of the Saivites and Vaishnavites and was aimed at insulting the Hindu religion and religious feelings of these groups,” the judge observed.
Earlier, during arguments, senior counsel P. Wilson, representing the State, told the court that the police had gone through the complaints but did not find any offence to have been made out. He also brought it to the notice of the court that a single judge as well as a Division Bench in the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court had already dismissed writ petitions filed in this regard.
Speech truncated and circulated
Mr. Wilson also said that another public interest litigation petition filed by advocate B. Jagannath for registering a FIR against the Minsiter was expected to be listed before the first Division Bench led by the Chief Justice. Wondering who forwarded the truncated video clip to the judge, Mr. Wilson said, “The Sanghis are very popular in prejudicing the mind of the court.”
On his part, senior counsel Vikas Singh, representing the Minister, told the court that the speech was delivered in a closed-door meeting organised by Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam. He said, the Minister had only repeated what was said 40 years ago but a truncated version of the speech was being circulated on the social media and therefore, the Minister had apologised only with respect to that truncated portion.
The judge had broached the issue of the derogatory speech during the hearing of a suo motu revision petition taken up by the court in 2023 against the acquittal of Mr. Ponmudy from yet another corruption case. After referring the issue related to the objectionable speech to the Chief Justice, Justice Venkatesh adjourned the 2023 suo motu revision petition to June 2025.
Published – April 23, 2025 06:34 pm IST
