Madras High Court denies anticipatory bail to actor Kasthuri Shankar over comments on Telugu migrants

The Madras High Court on Thursday denied anticipatory bail to actor Kasthuri Shankar, who has been booked by the Madurai police for allegedly making derogatory and casteist remarks against Telugu migrants living in Tamil Nadu..Shankar had allegedly said in her speech that Telugu speaking people were the ones who came to Tamil Nadu to serve the wives and concubines of Kings.Justice N Anand Venkatesh of the Madurai Bench dismissed Shankar’s anticipatory bail application saying that her comments bordered on "hate speech."The judge also said that the statements by Shankar were now available on social media and it is like a ticking bomb which could go off any moment."The speech made by the petitioner clearly hovers around hate speech. As held in the above judgment, the statements made by the petitioner is now available in the social media and it can act like a ticking bomb, which will wait to burst at the appropriate point of time by creating violence as among the Tamil and Telugu speaking people," the Court said. It added that a speaker must always think twice before addressing such issues in the public platform and particularly, in the social media era since what is said becomes a permanent recordWhile Shankar had issued an apology after the FIR was registered against her earlier this month, the High Court said it cannot entertain a "half hearted apology" tendered as a matter of course after making derogatory and scurrilous statements bordering hate speech.."A strong message must be sent by the court to the effect that whenever such scurrilous and derogatory statements are made by any person bordering hate speech and thereafter he is caught and prosecuted in accordance with law, tendering apology as a matter of course to escape the consequence cannot be entertained," the Court said..Shankar allegedly made an offensive comment during a rally against “Brahmin persecution” held in Chennai on November 3. On November 5, an FIR was registered against Shankar following a complaint by a local organisation. The actor has been booked for the offences of provocation, promoting enmity between groups and criminal intimidation under Sections 192, 196, and 353 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS)..The High Court said that while the comment by Shankar did not directly attribute anything against the community, public personalities and those holding positions of power must recognise the impacts their words can have on the society.."The words uttered are like the arrow which has already left the bow and it will reach its destination and cause the damage and hence a halfhearted apology will not cure the damage that has already happened. Everyone must be more conscious while uttering a word from a public platform and must necessarily face the consequence if irresponsible statements bordering hate speech are made," the High Court said..Senior Counsel AK Sriram and advocate M Dinesh Hari Sudarsan appeared for Shankar.Additional Advocate General R Bhaskaran and Additional Public Prosecutor S Ravi appeared for the State..[Read Order].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.