The Madras High Court has refused to quash the FIR filed on Catholic Diocese Priest, Goerge P Ponniah, who was arrested in July last year, for his Hate speech against the Hindu community. The court has found that the derogatory remarks he used against ‘Bharat Mata’ and ‘Bhumi Devi’ is an offence under Section 295A of the IPC.
A Madras HC bench of GR Swaminathan, refused to quash the FIR while also making a few observations about religious conversions. The Pastor was booked for his offensive words against Bharat Mata, Hindu Religious beliefs, and also the PM Narendra Modi and HM Amit Shah, during a meeting at Arumanai on July 18, 2020.
Justice GR Swaminathan observed that is it important to maintain status quo regarding religious demography. He said that while conversion is protected by the Constitution and should therefore be respected, it cannot become a ‘Group Agenda’. “If there is a serious subversion of the status quo, calamitous consequences may follow”, Justice Swaminathan stated.
“Dileep Kumar became A.R.Rahman. Yuvan Shankar Raja is now a Muslim. One of the sons of T.Rajendar has embraced Islam. These are perfectly understandable and no exception can be taken. But religious conversions cannot be a group agenda. Our Constitution speaks of composite culture. This character has to be maintained. The clock of history can never be put back. But the status quo that obtains in the year 2022
as regards religious demographic profile may have to be maintained,” the judgement said.
Pastor George Ponniah was booked under various sections including 143, 153A, 269, 295A, 505(2), 506(1) of IPC and Section 3 of Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897. The court noted that the Pastor had portrayed both Bharat Mata and Bhumi Devi as sources of infection and filth, and therefore article 295A of the IPC can be invoked as it hurts religious sentiments of Hindus.
“Bhuma Devi is considered as a Goddess by all believing Hindus. I use the expression “believing” because, even materialists, rationalists and non-believers also can be counted as Hindus. I may add tongue-in-cheek that even the great iconoclast and rationalist Periyar did not cease to be a Hindu. Bharat Mata evokes a deeply emotional veneration in a very large number of Hindus. She is often portrayed carrying the national flag and riding a lion. She is to many Hindus a Goddess in her own right…”, court reasoned as to why Section 295 A would be invoked for the offensive words used against the Goddess.
The Bench also dismissed the Pastor’s claim that he was just making religious criticism. The court noted that the speech was punishable under Section 153A of the IPC for promoting communal disharmony. Justice GR Swaminathan said, “a reading of the petitioner’s speech as a whole does not leave anyone in doubt. His target is the Hindu community. He is putting them on one side and the Christians and Muslims on the other. He is clearly pitting one group against the other. The distinction is made solely on the ground of religion. The petitioner repeatedly demeans the Hindu community”.
(With inputs from Livelaw)
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