The Madras High Court on Tuesday wanted to know whether prosecution would be withdrawn against former AIADMK MLA R. Kumaraguru, who had conducted a public meeting in Mandaveli in Kallakurichi town on Sunday, October 8, 2023, and tendered an open apology to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin for having used foul language against them in another public meet held at the same venue on September 19.
Justice G. Jayachandran granted time till Wednesday, October 11, 2023, for the answering of this query. He said there would be no point in just granting the anticipatory bail petition of the former MLA but keeping the prosecution pending, when he had tendered the apology in an open forum. It would be only fair to withdraw the prosecution since the apology had been tendered on social media and also by conducting a public meet at the same venue, he said.
It was while hearing an advance bail petition filed by the former MLA that the judge had, on October 4, asked the petitioner if he would be willing to conduct another public meet at the same venue to tender an apology to the Chief Minister and the Sports Minister. The question was posed after the Court was not satisfied with the petitioner’s submission that he had already tendered an apology through Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).
“This court, on perusing the FIR, and the objectionable utterances alleged to have been made by the petitioner in the public meeting, does not find any reason to grant protection from arrest. Having made objectionable utterances in the public meeting, secret communication in Twitter is not proportionate act of regret. If the petitioner is ready to convene public meeting in the very same place and tender apology, it will make some sense,” the judge had written on October 4.
In his petition, Mr. Kumaraguru told the court that he was a three-time MLA who was elected once from the Tirunavalur constituency in 2006 and twice from the Ulundurpet constituency in 2011 and 2016. He had delivered a speech criticising the ruling dispensation at the public meet organised by his party last month. The language used by him against the Chief Minister and his son led to a police complaint by advocate C. Venkatachalam, who is the DMK’s Kallakurichi South union secretary.
Acting on the basis of the complaint, the Kallakurichi police had registered a First Information Report against the former MLA under Sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 294b (uttering obscene words) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the Indian Penal Code. Apprehending arrest, the former MLA had approached the High Court seeking anticipatory bail.
