CM’s son receives notice from Supreme Court, major action may be taken against Udhayanidhi Stalin

Delhi. The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice on a petition seeking directions to register an FIR against Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin and the organizers of the ‘Sanatana Dharma Umulan Sammelan’. A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M. Trivedi sought response from Stalin Jr, Tamil Nadu Police and others on the petition. The court refused to tag it with other hate speech cases pending before the apex court. At the beginning of the hearing, the bench expressed reluctance to entertain the writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution and asked why the petitioner should not approach the High Court. Senior advocate Dama Sheshadri Naidu, appearing for the petitioner, said the constitutional functionary was speaking against an entire faith, adding that “children are asked and forced to speak against a particular faith.” He claimed that in the present case, the state is spreading “hate speech” and circulars have been issued by the state government to students for speaking against a particular religion. After hearing the arguments, the apex court decided to investigate the matter and issued a notice. It orally remarked that the court was being converted into a police station and such cases should be dealt with by the High Court. Last week, the Supreme Court had refused to pass any order directing urgent hearing of the petition and asked senior lawyer Naidu to follow the procedure outlined under the SOP for urgent listing of cases.