Sanatan row: Madras HC refrains from issuing quo warranto against Udhayanidhi Stalin, others

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 6 : The Madras High Court refused to issue quo warranto against Tamil Nadu ministers Udhayanidhi Stalin and PK Sekar Babu and DMK MP A Raja in connection with remarks on Sanatan Dharma.
Justice Anita Sumanth of Madras HC refrained from issuing quo warranto in the case to remove them from their posts because of their alleged comments.
A writ of quo warranto is a common law remedy that is used to challenge a person's right to hold a public or corporate office.
The orders were passed on quo warranto pleas filed by office bearers of the Hindu Munnani Organisation.
Advocate P Wilson, representing the DMK leaders said, "The prayer to issue quo warranto by a team belonging to Hindu Munnani has been rejected. The Court said that the quo warranto cannot be granted. Udhayanidhi Stalin has succeeded in this writ petition."
Earlier on March 4, the Supreme Court questioned Udhayanidhi Stalin over his remarks calling for the eradication of 'Sanatana Dharma' and told him that he is "not a layman but a minister".
Stalin had approached the apex court seeking clubbing of multiple FIRs registered against him in several states over his remarks.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for Stalin sought relief from the top court to club all the FIRs, saying FIRs are registered in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir and Maharashtra.
The bench frowned upon Stalin saying he should have known the consequences before making remarks.
"You abuse your rights under freedom of speech and expression and right to freedom of religion and then come to the Supreme Court for protection under Article 32? Do you not know the consequences of what you said?" asked the bench.
DMK leader Stalin made remarks comparing 'Sanatana Dharma' to diseases like 'malaria' and 'dengue' while advocating for its elimination on the grounds that it was rooted in the caste system and historical discrimination.
Minister Sekar Babu, who heads the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, faced criticisms for participating in the conference on Sanatan Dharma, where Udhayanidhi went on an explosive rant, thereby violating his oath of office.
DMK MP A Raja earlier this week stoked a row by stating that Tamil Nadu will never accept BJP's ideology of "this is Jai Sri Ram, this is Bharat mata ki jai."
"If you say it's this God, this is Jai Sri Ram, this is Bharat Mata ki jai, then we and Tamil Nadu will never accept Bharat Mata and Jai Shri Ram," Raja had said while addressing a public event in Madurai.