The Madras High Court on Thursday quashed a private complaint filed by a Salem-based activist Piyush Manushagainst former Tamil Nadu BJP chief and We The Leaders founder K Annamalai, over his “blood abhishekam” remark during a 2023 press meet.
The complaint was lodged over Annamalai’s reference to the alleged historical incident involving Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar and former chief minister CN Annadurai.
He had claimed that “Thevar had warned in 1956 that he would perform ‘blood abhishekam’ for Madurai Meenakshi Amman if atheists continued to insult theists”.
The then DMK government in Tamil Nadu had, on April 28, 2024, granted sanction under Section 196 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) for prosecuting Annamalai under several provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
“I, as any other politician in the country, had an opinion on the subject. In the course of stating my opinion on the subject…
Appearing for Annamalai, advocate Arun C Mohan told the court that his client had made the remarks while responding to comments by DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin on Sanatana Dharma. Mohan said there were different versions of the historical incident, but the broad account was that Annadurai had addressed a temple event and Thevar had disagreed with his speech. The complainant’s counsel however, argued that the magistrate had rightly taken cognisance of the “provocative” statement. He also told the court that Annamalai was “in the habit” of making such speeches during his stint as former president of BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit.
I had referred to a historically recorded incident involving Muthuramalinga Thevar and former chief minister CN Annadurai,” he submitted.
