'Sanatana Dharma' row: SC exempts Udhayanidhi Stalin from appearing in courts

New Delhi, Aug 14 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Wednesday exempted DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, who is facing multiple cases in various courts across the country for his controversial remark on 'Sanatana Dharma', from making personal appearance before any court.  

A bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna was hearing a writ petition filed by Udhayanidhi Stalin, the son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, seeking clubbing of multiple cases at one place.

The Bench, also comprising Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar, sought reply of the respondents within four weeks and in the meantime, dispensed with personal appearance of Udayanidhi Stalin before the courts.

In an earlier hearing, the apex court had granted time to bring all the subsequent events by way of filing an application seeking amendment in the petition.

The petition highlighted that except for one case instituted before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Bengaluru, all other FIRs/complaints were pending before the courts in Maharashtra, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Jammu And Kashmir, “which are currently ruled/administered by the Bharatiya Janata Party which is the ruling party at the Centre".

The plea contended that the DMK leader has been receiving threats to his life and will encounter great difficulty in appearing before different police stations and courts in different regions.

At a function organised by the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association, Udhayanidhi Stalin had called for eradicating Sanatana Dharma, saying it was against social justice. 

He also said that Sanatana Dharma must be eradicated like mosquitoes, dengue, malaria, or corona.

The Tamil Nadu Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs had said, “It (Sanatana Dharma) has to be eradicated, rather than being opposing.”

Later, he refused to apologise for his remarks which he justified by stating: “I will say this continuously.”

Earlier, the top court had said that it would not entertain a plea seeking contempt action against Udhayanidhi Stalin for his controversial statements, saying it would be “impossible” to hear individual cases across the country.

“If we start entertaining contempt, we will be flooded with cases. We will not go into individual cases,” it said.