Chennai, July 2: The Madras High Court has refused to intervene in the criminal proceedings against former Tamil Nadu minister and senior DMK leader K. Ponmudy. He faces allegations of making controversial remarks about Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and women. The court stated that the trial court can proceed with the private complaint against him.
Justice GK Ilanthirayan dismissed Ponmudy’s criminal revision petition, which challenged an order from the Third Metropolitan Magistrate Court in George Town, Chennai. This order had summoned him earlier this year in response to a complaint filed by BJP councillor Uma Anandan of the Greater Chennai Corporation.
The complaint pertains to a speech Ponmudy delivered during an event in Chennai in April 2025 while serving as the state’s Forest Minister. According to the complainant, his speech contained derogatory comments about Shaivites, Vaishnavites, and women, which were deemed hate speech that hurt religious sentiments and fostered animosity between communities.
Anandan stated that after watching a video of the speech on YouTube, she found the remarks extremely offensive. She alleged that Ponmudy compared the horizontal sacred mark worn by Shaivites, known as Pattai, to the vertical mark worn by Vaishnavites, called Thiruman, likening them to “descriptions of sexual postures by a sex worker.”
She argued that such statements offended the religious sentiments of both communities and disrupted communal harmony.
Anandan initially approached the police to demand criminal action. After the police closed the complaint without any action, she filed a private complaint in the magistrate court. The court took cognizance of the matter and ordered a summons for Ponmudy on February 23, 2026.
Challenging this order in the High Court, Ponmudy contended that he merely reiterated comments made by another individual years ago, which he claimed were from a closed-door meeting and not his own words.
His lawyer also argued that the complaint did not constitute offenses under Sections 196(1)(a), 299, and 302 of the Indian Penal Code, which relate to promoting enmity between groups and intentionally hurting religious sentiments.
Rejecting these arguments, the Madras High Court denied the request to quash the proceedings and allowed the ongoing criminal case in the magistrate court to continue.
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