The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday quashed a case filed in 2023 against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Amit Malviya for allegedly distorting the comments made by Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin about “eradicating” Sanatana Dharma, The Hindu reported.

Justice S Srimathy said that Stalin’s statement amounted to hate speech.

Stalin had said at a press conference in September 2023 that Sanatana Dharma must be eradicated, and not merely opposed. “We can’t oppose dengue, mosquitoes, malaria or corona [Covid-19], we have to eradicate them,” the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader had said. “In the same way, we have to eradicate Sanatana [Dharma], rather than opposing it.”

While many understand the term Sanatana Dharma to mean Hinduism as a whole, others interpret it as a reference to the varna system and the propagation of caste supremacy.

Shortly after Stalin made the remarks, Malviya had alleged that he was calling for a “genocide” of Hindus. The Tiruchi city police in Tamil Nadu had subsequently filed a case against the BJP leader for alleged hate speech.

Srimathy, however, said on Tuesday that when the Tamil Nadu minister had engaged in “hate speech”, the person opposing it could not be said to have committed a crime, The Hindu reported.

“He has not asked any people to start any agitation either against the Minister or his party, but has put forth mere facts and questioned the Minister,” the judge was quoted as saying. “The petitioner’s post is in the form of a question and seeking a reply, and the same would not attract the ingredients of any sections [of the penal code].”

The judge also made references to statements by anti-caste activist EV Ramasamy Periyar and his social movement, the Dravidar Kazhagam.

“There is clear attack on Hinduism by the Dravidar Kazhagam, and subsequently along with by the DMK, for the past 100 years, to which the minister belongs,” Srimathy said, according to The New Indian Express. “While considering the overall circumstances, it is seen the petitioner had questioned the hidden meaning of the minister’s speech.”

The judge said that the court was pained by the prevailing situation in Tamil Nadu.

“The courts are questioning the persons who reacted, but are not putting the law on motion against the person who initiated the hate speech,” she was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express. “In the present case, no case has been filed against the minister for his hate speech in TN, but some cases are filed in other states.”