The Madras High Court on Wednesday termed the comments made by Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin against Sanatana Dharma as ‘perverse,’ ‘divisive’ and against the Constitutional principles, which ‘should not have been made’ in the first place.
The single-judge Bench of Justice Anita Sumanth said that making unverified claims about Sanatana Dharma amounted to spreading misinformation.
It observed that those holding constitutional positions could propound only one principle – the principle of constitutionalism.
However, the single-judge Bench refrained from issuing a writ of quo warranto to remove Stalin as the Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development in the Tamil Nadu Cabinet.
The High Court noted that while the petition against Stalin was maintainable, it could not pass any direction as no action had been taken against the Minister, which disqualified him under the law from holding the post.
The single-judge Bench passed the order on a petition filed against Stalin, Tamil Nadu Minister of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department PK Sekarbabu, and Member of Parliament (MP) A Raja, challenging their continuance in office, despite giving adverse statements against the Sanatana Dharma.
On September 2, 2023, Stalin had said during at a conference organised by the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers Artists Association in Chennai that a few things must not merely be opposed but should be eradicated. As per Stalin, just like dengue, mosquitoes, malaria, or coronavirus need to be eradicated, we have to eradicate Sanatana.
The statement led to widespread outrage and filing of writ petitions against Stalin, A Raja and Sekar Babu by Tamil Nadu-based right wing organisation Hindu Munnani.