Setback for TN police as HC junks FIR against YouTuber Maridhas

In a setback to the police, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday quashed the FIR against YouTuber Maridhas, who was accused of outraging religious beliefs and fomenting communal enmity over the comments he made in a video. 

In the video that he posted on social media in April, 2020, Maridhas had made comments about Tablighi Jamaat and how its conference allegedly played a role in spreading the virus in the initial days of the pandemic. He was arrested based on a complaint lodged by Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) member Mohamed Kadar Meeran with the Melapalayam police. 

When his petition seeking to quash the case came up for hearing, Justice GR Swaminathan noted that Maridhas had given disclaimers in his video that he was not targeting the Muslim community. The judge also added that the transcript showed that he did not even question the organisation, but only directed his criticism at some of the attendees. 

“There is no reference to religion even in the remotest sense of the term in the video. By no stretch of imagination could Section 295A of IPC [deliberately outraging religious beliefs] have been invoked,” Justice Swaminathan held. 

After the hearing, the judge said none of the ingredients of any of the charges against Maridhas were present in the case. “The very registration of the impugned FIR is illegal and it stands quashed,” he said.