Madras High Court Imposes Anticipatory Bail Condition Of Writing Preamble & Article 19 Of Constitution Ten Times 'To Understand Constitutional Values'
In 2024, the Petitioners conducted a protest against the attack on the Hindus in Bangladesh with prior permission of the High Court.
The Madras High Court has imposed a condition of writing the Preamble of the Constitution of India, Article 19 and Part-IV-A - Article 51-A Fundamental duties, ten times in a notebook, to grant anticipatory bail to persons accused of Hate Speech.
In 2024, the Petitioners conducted a protest against the attack on the Hindus in Bangladesh with prior permission of the High Court.
The Bench of Justice M. Jothiraman directed, “In order to understand the object and constitutional values enumerated under the Constitution of India, the petitioners/ Accused Nos.1 to 3 are directed to write Preamble of the Constitution of India Article 19 and Part-IV-A - Article 51-A Fundamental duties, Ten times in a notebook, either in English or Tamil, and to submit before the concern judicial magistrate Court.”
Advocate Niranjan S.Kumar represented the Petitioners, the Advocate R. Meenakshi Sundaram represented the Respondents.
Case Brief
A Petition seeking anticipatory bail was filed by the Petitioner as he was charged for the offences punishable under Sections 192, 196(1)(a), 197(1)(c), 352, 353(1)(c) and 353(2) of BNS, 2023.
The Prosecution contended that in 2024, the Petitioners conducted a protest against the attack on the Hindus in Bangladesh and during the protest, they made hateful statements and spoke in a way that could incite riots.
While the Petitioners contended that they are members of the Hindu Munnani Party and conduct protests and other social activities related to the development of the temples etc. It was also stated that the Petitioners do not have any bad antecedents. It was also submitted that the High Court had given permission to conduct the Dharna protest.
Court’s Observation
The High Court noted that the Petitioner had already obtained prior permission to conduct the said protest, thus, given the facts and circumstances, granted anticipatory bail to the Petitioners with certain conditions.
One of the conditions of granting anticipatory bail, among others, was to write Preamble of the Constitution of India, Article 19 and Part-IV-A - Article 51-A Fundamental Duties, ten times in a notebook, either in English or Tamil. The Court was of the opinion that such exercise will help the Petitioners understand the object and constitutional values enumerated under the Constitution of India.
Accordingly, the Petitioners were granted anticipatory bail.
Cause Title: Raja Mathan V. State of Tamil Nadu
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