Madras high court reserves orders on DMK lawyer's plea for advance bail
Chennai: The Madras high court has reserved orders on an anticipatory bail petition filed by an advocate, who apprehended arrest in connection with a case registered against him for his Facebook post in which he allegedly insulted and made derogatory remarks against Kongu Gounder women and also aimed at inciting and causing conflict between members of the Kongu Gounder Community and Arunthathiyar-SC Community.
Justice G.K.Ilanthiraiyan reserved orders on the petition filed by advocate A.Swaminathan, practising in Erode Bar and also head of the DMK district lawyers wing.
Advocate V.Suresh, appearing for Swaminathan, submitted that the case of the prosecution was that the de-facto complainant Ranjith Kumar was an advocate practicing in the same Erode court and belong to same DMK party. On October 4, 2018 he posted a message on his face book page addressed to all Kongu Gounder boys and girls asking them to get into love marriage only with another boy or girl of the same community so that they will maintain the caste purity of the community. In his complaint, he stated that the petitioner belonging to Arunthathiyar community and practicing in Erode, posted a reply to the above referred face book post of Ranjith Kumar, which was in terms of insulting and derogatory of Kongu Gounder women and which was calculated to incite and cause caste conflict. Based on the complaint, the FIR was registered on October 17, 2018.
The true facts of the case were different and that the complaint has not only been registered belatedly but also with ulterior political purposes to put him down as he belongs to the very backward community. Some time back, the petitioner was appointed as the head of the district lawyers wing of the political party and the complainant was appointed to a lower post. This caused tremendous sense of anger and animosity to the complainant, Suresh added.
Suresh said since both belong to the same political party, the dispute was taken to the head of the district unit of DMK party and eventually to the state president of the DMK. The matter was amicably settled and the petitioner posted his unconditional apology in his face book. Some other politically motivated caste based groups belonging to the same community started a campaign demanding arrest of the petitioner and pressurized the complainant to give the complaint, Suresh added.
Vehemently opposing his plea, public prosecutor A.Natarajan submitted that the offence was committed by an advocate, who has been practicing in the Erode bar for over 20 years and he was also a former additional public prosecutor in the Erode district. He was not an ordinary person. He must be an example not only to his juniors but also to the society. He has admitted his guilt. Expressing regret was not enough. He has uttered words, which would incite violence and result in law and order problem. He posted the message not only against the complainant but also against the community.
He was having more responsibility to the society. After pleading guilty, seeking anticipatory bail was not acceptable. He should surrender before the trial court and seek relief, Natarajan added.
A battery of senior lawyers including R.Gandhi, appeared for several impleading petitioners and opposed the anticipatory bail.
