Supreme Court refuses to quash cases against BJP leader H Raja for remarks against Periyar, women

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to quash multiple criminal cases lodged against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader H Raja over his remarks on social activist Periyar and women. [H Raja vs State Rep by Inspector of Police and Anr.].A Bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Prashant Kumar Mishra expressed concern over the quality of discourse in politics and emphasized the need for politicians to be cautious about their statements.."We are so impressed by your arguments that we will simply say dismissed. People in politics have to be circumspect about what they utter; somehow we are reducing the level of discourse," the Court said..The Madras High Court had on August 29 last year refused to quash any of the 11 first information reports (FIRs) registered across Tamil Nadu against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader H Raja.This led to the instant appeal before the apex court.H Raja was booked for allegedly having made “disparaging” remarks against Dravidian ideologue Periyar, late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader Kanimozhi, and several officials of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department and their wives in a public speech and through social media posts in 2018.Single-judge Justice N Anand Venkatesh had refused to accept Raja’s explanation that he had made such comments as he had been under much anguish at the time.Justice Venkatesh had instead reminded Raja that he was a public figure and thus expected to mind his language even when feeling anguished..The High Court had gone on to say that it had found the comments against Periyar actually “hovered around hate speech”, and those against women were “highly defamatory, scandalous” and demeaning, and could have a negative impact on society and create disturbance across the State.Justice Venkatesh had, however, directed that all seven cases where Raja had been booked for having made disparaging remarks against women, be clubbed together and transferred for a joint trial to the special court for MPs and MLAs in Srivilliputhur district, Tamil Nadu.The judge had further said that the trial for the remaining four cases that pertain to Raja’s comments against Periyar and other political leaders - three FIRs for which were registered in Erode district and one in Chennai - be held together by the special court in Chennai..Senior Advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu appeared for H Raja.