BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday hailed the Madras High Court’s decision to quash an FIR against BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya, calling the case politically motivated and an attempt to silence dissent. The FIR was filed in 2023.
Addressing a press conference, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said the FIR had been filed with a “vindictive mindset” by the DMK government. “Satyamev Jayate. Truth always prevails. The Madras High Court has quashed an FIR that was filed with the intention of vendetta and vindictive politics, only to harass and persecute Amit Malviya for speaking the truth,” Poonawalla said.
He added that the court’s order was not only a relief for Malviya but also a strong indictment of what he described as the DMK’s approach to free speech. “What happened to free speech in the case of Amit Malviya? This case was filed only to punish him for questioning hate speech,” he said.
Poonawalla further claimed the High Court had taken note of the nature of the original remarks that led to the controversy. “Not only has the Madras High Court quashed the FIR against Amit Malviya, it has also observed that the statement in question amounted to hate speech,” he said, renewing the BJP’s demand for action against Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin.
The BJP spokesperson said the ruling reaffirmed that criminal law could not be used as a tool for political vendetta and asserted that the party would continue to raise its voice against what it terms selective targeting of opposition leaders.