July 11, 2019:

Noting that May 17 Movement founder G Thirumurugan Gandhi had a clear tendency to get into a vitriolic diatribe whenever he picked up the microphone, the Madras High Court has said he spewed “venom against a particular community“ and that he needed to be thoroughly investigated.

“The speeches made by the petitioner and offending portions extracted in the FIRs are pregnant with hate spewed against a particular community which is attacked in a vituperative, opprobrious and slanderous manner,” said Justice N Anand Venkatesh on Tuesday.

“It is important for the Tamil Nadu Police to investigate thoroughly and see if there is a larger net and whether Thirumurugan is the only face of it,” said the judge, refusing to quash a batch of FIRs registered against Gandhi for his ‘hate speeches’.

Dismissing Thirumurugan Gandhi’s petition, he said: “The petitioner is repeatedly attempting to portray as if Tamil Nadu does not belong to India and that every organ is attempting to destroy this state.”

Asserting that free speech was the foundation of a democratic society, Justice Venkatesh said, “Restraints on this right have been jealously watched by courts. However, the Constitution itself prescribes restrictions of the freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(2). It enables the legislature to impose restrictions upon the freedom of speech and expression on eight grounds including sovereignty and integrity of India, public order, decency and incitement to an offence.”

The court said, “Any leader or a speaker who takes to a public platform or expresses through social media must bear in mind that the Constitution does not permit hate speech in the name of freedom of speech and expression. Hate speeches create discord amongst the various ethnic and religious communities.”

“Any speech which disrespects another citizen on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community, is forbidden and becomes punishable under the IPC and various other laws. The responsibility attached to free speech should not be forgotten,” Justice Anand Venkatesh said.

Pointing out that Thirumurugan Gandhi had also used the choicest of words against the high court and the Supreme Court, the court said the speeches made by the petitioner would certainly promote a feeling of enmity, hatred and ill-will between different religious groups and communities.

It also had the shades of fissiparous and separatist tendencies, which would seriously affect the unity of the nation and would have an impact on the growth and development of this state, he said.

The petitioner should understand that these hate speeches would in no way help or protect the welfare and interest of this state. Spewing venom against a particular community was not going to help the downtrodden come up in the society and become a part of the mainstream. On the other hand, it would only sow the seeds of hatred among communities, the judge said.

“People want to progress and come up in life and certainly the speeches made by the petitioner will not in any way contribute towards the same,” Justice Venkatesh said.

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