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Case: RS Bharathi v. The State of Tamil Nadu and anr.
The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court declined to quash the criminal case against Ramansai Bharathi, Organising Secretary, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). The single bench of Justice N. Sathish Kumar observed that his speech implied that judges belonging to Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes would have not been able to be appointed in the High Court without the help of former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi or the Dravidian Progressive Federation. The court remarked that the statement was degrading and an insult to the people who belong to disadvantaged castes. The case also led Justice Kumar to condemn political leaders who rely on hurtful words and 'spit venom' due to personal grudges against their opponents in the guise of freedom of speech and expression instead of engaging in an intellectual debate with each other. He also noted that such events are not good for the younger generation or society in general.
Background
R.S. Bharathi had made a speech during the Kalaignar Vaasagar Vattaram function on February 15 last year in which he had made disrespectful and hurtful comments against people, including High Court judges (Justice A. Varadarajan and around 7 other judges) belonging to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe community.
An FIR was lodged against him by a person named Kalyana Sundaram under Section 3(1)(u) and Section 3(1)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989.
Bharathi was subsequently arrested in the month of May and was granted interim bail later. He got a regular bail in June after the plea challenging his interim bail got declined by the Madras High Court. Another plea that was submitted before the high court requesting the cancellation of his bail was yet again dismissed by the bench. However, the court stated that a person in a high position such as an MLA or an MP should avoid making comments that may hurt the sentiments of a community.
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