Xi's Chennai visit: FIRs against Tibetan protesters quashed

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court quashed FIRs booked against several Tibet-based people, including students, on charges of staging protests and raising slogans against the visit of Chinese Premier Xi Jinping to Chennai in 2019.

Justice RN Manjula passed the orders on disposing of the petitions filed by the accused in the case, including Tenzin Lobsang, a Tibetan activist.

According to the petitioners, they were falsely implicated, though they have not committed any act as alleged in the prosecution case. “FIR registered against the petitioners is sheer abuse of process of law and liable to be quashed,” petitioner's counsel argued.

The accused also noted that in so far as Section 353 of IPC was later included by the way of alteration report filed by the St Thomas Mount Police Inspector without any material.

“At this juncture, it is the respondent who had purposely pertinent to submit that the report as submitted by the Selaiyur Police does not make out any ingredient to attract Section 353 of IPC. Filing an FIR without proper inquiry is sheer abuse of the process of law. The FIR is bereft of evidence and it is liable to be quashed,” the petitioners submitted.

Recording the submissions, the judge quashed the FIR booked against all eight petitioners in the case.

The case of the prosecution was that when Chinese Premier Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to Chennai for attending a high-level meeting at Mamallapuram in 2019, the petitioners staged protests and raised slogans. The police further submitted that the petitioners disturbed the police from discharging their duties.