Chennai: The Madras High Court has ordered that the police must release Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Opposition Leader Udhayanidhi Stalin by today. The court also ordered that Udhayanidhi Stalin must cooperate with the investigation.
The Thanjavur police took Opposition Leader Udhayanidhi Stalin in for questioning this morning for allegedly speaking in a defamatory and obscene manner about the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister.
Before the police took him away, Udhayanidhi’s side, the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, filed a petition in the Madras High Court seeking anticipatory bail, citing the likelihood of arrest. It came up for hearing this afternoon. Government advocate Vijay Narayan appeared on behalf of the Tamil Nadu government. Senior advocates N.R. Elango and Hasan Mohammed Jinnah appeared for Udhayanidhi Stalin’s side.
At that time, the government advocate said, “Udhayanidhi Stalin has not been arrested. This is only a pre-arrest procedure. Once the Thanjavur police finish questioning him, they will release him,” he said.
At that time, Judge Ilanthiraiyan ordered that Udhayanidhi be released within today, and at the same time, Udhayanidhi must also extend proper cooperation to the police investigation.
What happened?
Yesterday in Thanjavur, a protest was held on behalf of the DMK, pressing demands that crop loans be completely waived, condemning the Tamil Nadu government for supporting the Karnataka government's attempt to build the Mekedatu dam, and insisting that the delta districts be declared drought-affected districts.
Udhayanidhi Stalin attended and spoke at this protest, and at that time, Thanjavur Central District Women’s Wing organizer Bhairavi filed a complaint at the Thanjavur East Police Station, alleging that he had spoken against the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and used obscene language.
Based on this complaint, the East Police Station police registered a case under six sections.
The case was registered under Sections 196, 192, 352, 79, 296(b), 61, and 351(2) of the BNS, the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act, and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act (IT Act), that is, for publishing sexually explicit remarks.
Following this, Thanjavur police arrived at his house this morning. As the situation there became tense, police were deployed in large numbers.
After a short while, the police took Udhayanidhi away. As a result, DMK members staged protests across Tamil Nadu. Likewise, TVK members also staged protests against Udhayanidhi Stalin.
In this situation, the Chennai High Court has ordered that Udhayanidhi Stalin be released within today after police questioning.
