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The Supreme Court on Monday extended the stay granted by it earlier on the trial of a criminal case lodged against Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai for allegedly delivering a hate speech against Christians in October 2022.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, extending its stay order, asked the complainant to file his response within six weeks. "Interim order to continue. Re-list the matter in the week commencing September 9," said the bench. On February 26, the top court stayed the proceedings in the criminal case against Annamalai. Complainant V Piyush had accused Annamalai of delivering hate speech against Christians in the interview on October 22, 2022, with regard to the bursting of crackers two days before Diwali. Annamalai had challenged in the apex court a February 8 Madras High Court order that had refused to quash the summons issued to him in the case. The summons was issued by the trial court based on Piyush's complaint. In a YouTube interview, Annamalai had allegedly said that an internationally funded Christian missionary NGO was allegedly involved in destroying the Hindu culture by filing cases in the Supreme Court to prevent Hindus from bursting crackers. Challenging the summons and the entire proceedings, Annamalai had said that his speeches were expressions of anguish and not intended to promote communal discord and highlighted the timing of the complaint, filed approximately 400 days after the interview, during which no untoward incidents occurred based on his speech. The High Court had observed that the psychological impact on an individual or a group must also be considered under the definition of hate speech. It underscored the significance of Annamalai's position as a prominent leader, stating that his words carried weight and could have a psychological impact on the targeted group. (ANI)
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