Sedition case: MDMK Vaiko sentenced to one-year jail time, fined Rs 10,000

Chennai, July 05: MDMK general secretary Vaiko who will be the party's candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls from Tamil Nadu, has been sentenced to a one year jail term and fined Rs 10,000 by a Chennai Court in a 2009 seditious speech case.

The Tamil Nadu police in 2009 registered a case under Sections 124-A (sedition) and 153 -A (promoting enmity between different groups) against the MDMK leader for his speech in Raja Annamalai Mandram on October 21, 2008. The topic was 'Eezhathil Nadapathenna' (What is happening in Eelam?) where he had warned that India would remain a united single country if the war against banned outfit Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka was not stopped.

Though the charge-sheet was filed in the case on December 30, 2009, the MDMK leader was not arrested.

After the passport authority refused to clear his passport application, Vaiko surrendered before the XIV Metropolitan Magistrate.

After the court granted him bail in 2017, the case was transferred from the Egmore Magistrate court to Special court in Chennai Collectorate Complex.

Vaiko, who was elected with the support of DMK MLAs, would be entering the Upper House after a gap of 23 years. His previous tenure in the Rajya Sabha was between 1990 and 1996 as a representative of the DMK.