Chennai: In an order passed last week, the Madras High Court made pertinent observations regarding the need to exercise caution before initiating criminal proceedings that may affect free speech. The Court made these observations while quashing an FIR filed against Tamil writer K Rajanarayanan.
"Neither the Magistrate nor the Police should exhibit alacrity to take cognizance or register a case in such matters. Every time they receive such complaints, they must dust their knowledge of the law relating to free speech," Justice GR Swaminathan opined.
The Court proceeded to highlight,
"The courts must remember that whenever they play into the hands of people like the first respondent/complainant, the image of the judiciary as well as the nation takes a beating. Section 66-A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 was struck down as unconstitutional taking note of its chilling effect on free speech. Magistrates must realize that complaints such as the one on hand produce similar effect and lead to stifling of this fundamental freedom. They must therefore be on guard and adopt a nuanced approach in such cases. One marker of a civilised society is as to how it treats and respects its artists, writers and intellectuals."
In this backdrop, Justice Swaminathan made note to caution that Magistrates should be circumspect in allowing the initiation of criminal proceedings that would affect the right to free speech. In this regard, the High Court order notes.
The FIR in question was registered against Ki Ra following the publication of an interview featuring him in an edition of The Sunday Indian on September 30, 2012. In response to why the author did not write about Dalit life, Ki.Ra had replied that since he is not acquainted with their dialect, he did not attempt to portray their lives. While referring to the Dalit community, however, the author had used the non-honorific version of a second person pronoun in Tamil i.e. "avan", rather than "avar", which is the honorific version.
This reference was found to be objectionable by P Kathiresan, a member of a scheduled caste, the Pallar caste, who filed a police complaint against Ki.Ra, levelling charges under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and Section 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Ki.Ra had moved the Madurai Bench of the High Court to quash this FIR.
The High Court in turn enlisted the assistance of a Tamil scholar, Jagannath, to look into the usage of "Avan" for discerning whether the same amounted to an intentional insult to a member of a scheduled case, which is punishable under the SC/ST Act, 1989. The Court noted.
