SC rebukes Udhayanidhi Stalin

The Supreme Court pulled up Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin for seeking either quashing or clubbing at one place of six FIRs filed in five states for his alleged hate speech for eradication of ‘Sanatan Dharma’. A division bench SC tersely told Udhayanidhi – “You abuse your right under Article 19 (guaranteeing free speech) and Article 25 (freedom to practice and profess any religion) and then come to us invoking Article 32 (right to approach SC directly for breach of fundamental right).” An FIR each has been lodged in UP, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Jammu and Kashmir while two were filed in Bihar against the TN minister, who is son of CM M K Stalin. Justice Datta said, “You (Udhayanidhi) is not a layman. You are a minister. You know the consequences of your utterances.”