The Madras High Court on Tuesday (September 1) set aside the conviction of BJP leader H Raja in two hate speech cases arising from his derogatory remarks against social reformer EV Ramasamy, popularly known as Periyar, and DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi.
Justice V Lakshminarayanan allowed appeals filed by Raja challenging his 2024 conviction by the Special Court for Trial of Cases Against MLAs/MPs in Chennai. The High Court noted that there was no material to establish that Raja’s remarks had caused any disturbance.
In December 2024, the special court had sentenced Raja to six months’ imprisonment and imposed a fine in connection with comments he made in 2018. The sentence was suspended for 30 days to enable him to challenge the verdict before the High Court.
The cases stemmed from Raja’s social media posts and comments against Periyar and Kanimozhi. Raja had tweeted that Periyar’s statues should be broken and described the rationalist leader as a caste fanatic. He had also made remarks about Kanimozhi, referring to her as the illegitimate child of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.
Raja had earlier unsuccessfully sought quashing of the FIRs before the High Court. In 2023, Justice Anand Venkatesh observed that while individuals were entitled to disagree with Periyar’s views and ideology, they could not cross the “Lakshman Rekha” by making statements that directly hurt the sentiments of those who followed Periyarism. The Court had also noted that Raja’s remarks against Kanimozhi carried a negative connotation and portrayed her in an insensitive manner.
A second petition filed by Raja in April 2024 seeking quashing of the FIRs was also dismissed. The High Court held that the grounds raised were largely factual and had already been considered in the earlier proceedings.
Raja subsequently approached the Supreme Court, which dismissed his special leave petitions. A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Prashant Kumar Mishra had orally observed that politicians should exercise caution and circumspection while making public statements.
However, the Madras High Court has now set aside Raja’s conviction, finding no material to show that his remarks had resulted in any disturbance.
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