Madras HC Denied Relief to Tamil Nadu BJP Chief Annamalai

While refusing to quash the criminal proceedings against Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai for his alleged statements against a Christian missionary NGO, the Madras High Court this week made stern remarks on the matter.

Justice N Anand Venkatesh, while highlighting the free translation of the statement made by Annamalai in an interview on YouTube channel ‘Pesu Thamizha Pesu’, held, “Prima facie, the statements disclose a divisive intent on the part of the petitioner to project as if a Christian NGO is acting against Hindu culture.”

Further, stressing that Annamalai is a former senior IPS officer and is expected to know the laws of the land, Justice Venkatesh wrote, “…it is unmistakable that he was attempting to portray a calculated attempt made by a Christian Missionary NGO which is funded internationally, to destroy Hindu culture. It also whips up a communal fervor…The public was, therefore, led to believe that Christians are out to finish off Hindus.”

The judge remarked that “a petition filed in the interests of the environment was suddenly converted into a vehicle for communal tension”.

Annamalai approached the high court to quash a case lodged against him under Sections 153A and 505(1)(b) of the Indian Penal Code on the complaint given by environmental activist V Piyush of Salem.

In his complaint, Piyush had alleged that Annamalai made a false claim during an interview on October 22, 2022, just two days before Diwali that year, that it was a Christian missionary NGO that had first filed a case before the Supreme Court seeking a ban on the bursting of crackers during the festival.

V Piyush stated that it was actually a senior lawyer’s minor son who had filed the first case in the Supreme Court against the bursting of crackers. Therefore, he alleged that Annamalai made the false claim to deliberately fan communal hatred against Christians.