Madurai, January 21: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on January 20 quashed the FIR registered in 2023 by the Tiruchi city police against BJP leader Amit Malviya for allegedly "distorting the comments" made by Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on Sanatana Dharma.

Justice S Srimathy, while allowing the petition, observed that the remarks made by Udhayanidhi amounted to "hate speech."

Elaborating on the issue, the judge said the minister's speech must be examined in its entirety.

"He stated that Sanatana Dharma should not merely be resisted or opposed, but should be abolished or eradicated. In Tamil, the expression used was not Sanatana ethirppu (opposition to Sanatana), but Sanatana ozhippu (eradication of Sanatana)," Justice Srimathy noted.

In the year 2023, Malviya posted on X, "Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of Tamilnadu CM MK Stalin, and a minister in the DMK Govt, has linked Sanatana Dharma to malaria and dengue... He is of the opinion that it must be eradicated and not merely opposed. In short, he is calling for genocide of 80% population of Bharat, who follow Sanatan Dharma."

His remark came after Udhayanidhi had while speaking at a conference in Chennai said 'Sanatana' (Sanatan Dharma) is like malaria and dengue, which should not be merely opposed but eradicated.

"A few things cannot be opposed but should only be abolished. We can't merely oppose dengue, mosquitoes, malaria, or corona. They have to be eradicated. Rather than opposing Sanatana, it should be eradicated." (ANI)