In a surprising ruling, a special court in Chennai has convicted H Raja, the President of the BJP Tamil Nadu Coordination Committee, for his remarks regarding the EVR statue and DMK MP Kanimozhi. The court sentenced Raja to six months in prison and imposed a fine of ₹5,000 in each case.
The complaints against Raja stemmed from his 2018 Twitter post in which he allegedly threatened to destroy the EVR statue and made derogatory comments about Kanimozhi. These posts sparked widespread condemnation from political parties, including the DMK, Congress, and the Popular Front of India. Subsequently, complaints were filed at several police stations, including Erode Nagar Police and Karungalpalayam Police Station.
Raja had petitioned the Madras High Court to quash the case, arguing that the comments were political, and that evidence for his threats against the Periyar statue had not been properly collected. He further contended that a third party filed the case without his knowledge or consent. Despite these claims, the court directed the special court to complete the trial within three months, and after hearing arguments from both sides, Judge G. Jayavel delivered the verdict.
The court found that the police had sufficiently proven that Raja made the posts from his social media account, which led to the conviction. Raja’s statements were deemed inflammatory, with the court ruling that the remarks against the statue and Kanimozhi were not just political but also defamatory.
Raja’s legal team had maintained that the remarks were taken out of context and were meant as political commentary.
What H Raja Said In 2018
In 2018, the then BJP National Secretary Raja had allegedly made derogatory remarks about DMK MP Kanimozhi, calling her the “illegitimate child” of DMK President M Karunanidhi. This statement sparked protests from DMK supporters, with a large demonstration and effigy burning in Coimbatore. Kanimozhi responded, saying she wouldn’t “stoop low” to retort to Raja’s tweet but was awaiting a response from the BJP regarding his comments.
Raja had also faced backlash for his controversial Facebook post about Dravidian ideologue E.V. Ramasamy “Periyar,” in which he allegedly threatened to destroy Periyar’s statues, similar to the demolition of Lenin’s statue in Tripura. Raja later claimed the post was made by his Facebook admin without his consent and deleted it, expressing regret.
(With inputs from OneIndia Tamil)
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