In a reprieve to senior BJP leader H Raja, Justice V. Lakshminarayanan of the Madras High Court, on September 1, allowed two criminal appeals and set aside his conviction and six-month imprisonment.
While hearing the appeals, the court observed that there was nothing on record to establish that Raja’s posts had caused any disturbance or tension in society.
During the previous AIADMK rule, following pressure from Dravidian parties, criminal cases were registered against Raja at different police stations in connection with a post he made on a social media platform in April 2018, stating that he would break the statue of Periyar.
Cases were also registered alleging that he had made derogatory remarks against DMK leader and Lok Sabha member Kanimozhi Karunanidhi. Based on a complaint lodged by Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam, the Erode police registered a case against Raja.
After the trial, the Special Court for cases against MPs and MLAs in Chennai convicted Raja in two cases and, in December 2024, sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment in each case. The court also levied a fine in connection with his speech against Periyar and Kanimozhi Karunanidhi. The court had, however, suspended the sentence for 30 days on a request made by Raja’s counsel to allow the party to file an appeal.
The High Court had earlier declined to quash the case and directed the Special Court to complete the trial within three months.
In 2023, while hearing a petition by Raja to quash the FIRs registered against him, Justice Anand Venkatesh observed that Raja’s comments hovered around hate speech. The court noted that though every person was entitled to differ from the views, thoughts and ideologies of Periyar (EV Ramaswamy Naicker), he could not cross the “Lakshman Rekha”.
The judge said that making statements which directly affected the sentiments of people of Tamil Nadu who follow Periyarism could not be permitted. In Kanimozhi’s case, the court noted that Raja’s message had a negative connotation and outraged her by portraying her in an insensitive manner.
In April 2024, Raja moved a second petition to quash the FIR, which too went against him, with the court holding that it lacked merit and that the grounds raised in the second quash petition were purely factual and had already been canvassed in the previous petition.
Raja then knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court, which dismissed his SLPs. A division bench of the apex court comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Prashant Kumar Mishra orally commented on the need for politicians to be circumspect about their public comments.
Aggrieved by the order, Raja filed appeals before the High Court.
Justice Lakshmi Narayanan, on September 1, allowed two appeals filed by the BJP leader against his conviction by the Special Court in 2024. The court noted that there was no material to show that any disturbance was caused following Raja’s comments.
