The BJP on Wednesday welcomed the Madras High Court verdict quashing a First Information Report (FIR) registered against its IT cell in-charge Amit Malviya in Tamil Nadu, and accused the DMK of having an “anti-Hindu” mindset.

The party demanded that Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin be removed from the post and a case be filed against him.

Responding to the development via his X handle, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said: “The decision by the Madurai Bench of the Hon’ble Madras High Court quashing the FIR against Amit Malviya, the national in-charge of the BJP’s IT Department, is a strong rebuke to the DMK’s narrow, anti-Hindu mindset. It is also a setback to the INDIAlliance’s anti-Hindu ideology.”

Mr. Goyal said the court held that questioning or responding to Mr. Udhayanidhi’s “hate speech is not a criminal offence and that the FIR was an abuse of the legal process”, adding: “Justice has prevailed. Truth cannot be put on trial, nor can the DMK’s political vendetta destroy a civilisational faith.”

‘Vendetta mindset’
At a press conference, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said the case against Mr. Malviya was filed with a “vendetta mindset” to punish and penalise him for “only speaking out the truth”.

“In 2023, Udhayanidhi Stalin had attended a conference in Tamil Nadu where he called for eradication of Sanatana Dharma. He compared Hinduism and Sanatana Dharma to dengue and malaria,” he alleged. Mr. Poonawalla said when Mr. Malviya raised the issue, rather than taking action against Mr. Udhayanidhi, the “entire DMK government machinery, police, and other agencies” went after the BJP leader.

Quoting the order, he said Mr. Udhayanidhi belonged to a party with a legacy of “attack on Hinduism”. “This Court, with pain, records the prevailing situation where the persons who initiated hate speech are let off scot-free, but the persons who reacted to the hate speech are facing the wrath of the law. The Courts are also questioning the persons who reacted but are not putting the law on motion against the person who initiated the hate speech. In the present case, no case has been filed against the Minister for his hate speech in State, but some cases are filed in the other States,” the order said.