Law Is For Everyone: Madras HC Slams Minister Ponmudy's Vulgar Comments On Hindus, Orders FIR Against Him

The Madras High Court on Thursday slammed the DMK government over its minister Ponmudy's sex jokes on the Shaivite-Vaishnavite saying "law is for everyone."

What Madras HC Said On Ponmudy's Case

The court has ordered the authorities to file an FIR in this regard while asking the Advocate General not to lodge multiple cases. Justice Anand Venkatesh noted that the minister has already accepted that he had made those comments.

"I must get an answer on what is going to happen on the complaint. The material is already available. The issue does not require an enquiry because the person who made the comment is accepting the comment. The damaging content is still there. It cannot just go on and on. We don't know when it'll flare up. This is a cognisance taken by the court. The moment I enter into this, it'll get a different colour, which I don't want to happen," Live Law quoted the judge as saying.

The court stated that people in power should not be making such comments and the law is same for everyone, including the people belonging to the ruling party. "Someone should hesitate in the future. People shouldn't think that when I belong to some other party or some other opposition party, I will be held. But if I belong to the ruling party, I can talk anything. That impression should never be given. Law is for everybody," the court added.

The Madras HC wondered why the DMK government has not taken action when others made hate speeches. "When the government takes seriously about the hate speech made by others, the same should be done when a person who is part of the government makes it. And its not some ordinary thing which he has uttered. We've all heard it," the judge added.

The court has given the time till April 23 to file an FIR against the minister.

What Did DMK Minister Say?

Last week, Tamil Nadu Forest Minister K Ponmudy triggered a fresh controversy for making vulgar comments against the Shaivite and Vaishnavite communities.

Attending a meeting organised by Thanthai Periyar Dravida Kazhagam, the DMK minister narrated an anecdote in which a sex worker asks a man whether he is a Shaivite or a Vaishnavite. He then claims she interprets Shaivite as a "lying down position" (referring to the horizontal tilak worn by Shaivites) and Vaishnavite as a "standing position" (referring to the vertical tilak worn by Vaishnavites). The most disgusting part of the story is that people in the crowd laughed over his comments.

However, the BJP and a section of the DMK leaders have condemned his remarks. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has sacked him from the post of the party's Deputy General Secretary post.