The Madras High Court has stayed all further proceedings pursuant to registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against Viduthalai Sigappi, alias P. Vigneshwaran, 30, an assistant to acclaimed film director Pa. Ranjith, for his poem titled Malakuzhi Maranam in which he had depicted Lord Rama, Lord Lakshman and Lord Hanuman to be involved in manual scavenging.
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh granted the interim stay after senior counsel T. Lajapathi Roy contended that the intention behind the recitation of the poem, at a literary event, was not to insult any religion but to underline the seriousness of deaths caused due to manual scavenging. The counsel claimed that a creator could not be subjected to prosecution for artistic freedom.
In his petition, the assistant director said that caste based discrimination was still prevalent in the country despite Article 17 of the Constitution having declared untouchability to have been abolished. Similarly manual scavenging and consequent deaths, too, were continuing to be reported despite the enactment of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.
“Expressing the plight of those upon whom such practice is forced upon, in a literary form, cannot be considered as an offence,” the petitioner said. He cited the Delhi High Court’s 2008 judgment in artist M.F. Hussain’s case; and the Madras High Court’s 2016 judgment in author Perumal Murugan’s case, to drive home his point that free flow of opinions and ideas should not be curtailed.
He urged the court to quash the FIR booked at the Abhiramapuram police station in Chennai on the basis of a complaint lodged by P. Suresh of Bharath Hindu Munnani. The police had invoked Sections 153 (provocation with intent to cause riot), 153A (1)(a) (promoting enmity between different groups), 295A (outraging religious feelings), 505(1)(b) (statements intended towards causing public mischief) and 505(2) (promoting ill will between classes) of the Indian Penal Code.
He had recited the poem at Vaanam arts festival organised by Ranjith’s Neelam Cultural Centre at an indoor venue in Raja Annamalaipuram on April 30. The video went viral on the social media leading to the complaint and the consequent registration of the FIR. However, the petitioner denied the charge of having outraged religious feelings and claimed that none of the sections would get attracted.
