Madras HC Orders FIR Against TN Minister K Ponmudy Over Obscene Religious Remarks

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Forests Minister K Ponmudy, who was recently stripped of his post as DMK deputy general secretary following his obscene religious remarks, faced fresh trouble on Thursday with the Madras High Court directing the Tamil Nadu police to register a case against him.

Ponmudy, a senior politician and one of the DMK's powerful regional satraps in north Tamil Nadu, had courted controversy when he made obscene remarks at a meeting comparing religious symbols of the Saivites and Vaishnavites with sexual positions. 

Justice Anand Venkatesh said when police have received a complaint, the FIR must be registered. He pointed out he Minister himself had admitted to have made the remarks and expressed regrets for the same. The video of his speech was still available in the public domain.

"There is no escape from this. Don't register multiple FIRs. Just register one FIR and proceed with it. Law is for everybody. When Govt takes others' hate speeches seriously, the same must be done when a Minister himself makes it," the judge said. He granted time till April 23 for the Advocate General to take instructions from the police and report whether a FIR had been registered or not and adjourned the case.

Earlier in the day, Justice Anand Venkatesh sought to know what criminal action had been taken against the Minister by the police.

The judge called for the Advocate General during the hearing of a suo motu revision petition taken up in 2023 against Ponmudy's acquittal from a disproportionate assets case, and expressed displeasure over him making disgusting remarks against women and religious denominations. "He appeared to have made those remarks with full consciousness, and they did not appear to be a slip of the tongue for him to simply brush aside the entire issue by offering a public apology," the judge said.