Madurai, Jan. 21 -- The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on January 20 quashed the FIR registered in 2023 by the Tiruchi city police against BJP leader Amit Malviya for allegedly "distorting the comments" made by Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on Sanatana Dharma.

Justice S Srimathy, while allowing the petition, observed that the remarks made by Udhayanidhi amounted to "hate speech."

Elaborating on the issue, the judge said the minister's speech must be examined in its entirety.

"He stated that Sanatana Dharma should not merely be resisted or opposed, but should be abolished or eradicated. In Tamil, the expression used was not Sanatana ethirppu (opposition to Sanatana), but Sanatana ozhippu (eradication of San...