Days after the arrest of publisher Badri Seshadri in Tamil Nadu over his adverse comment about the stand of the Supreme Court on the Manipur crisis, a group of writers and historians wrote to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin to release him. The letter sent to Stalin on Monday, July 31 was signed by writers Ambai, Paul Zacharia, and Perumal Murugan, historians AR Venkatachalapathy and Stalin Rajangam, musician TM Krishna, academic Rajan Krishnan, and publisher Kannan Sundaram.
While stating that Badri’s comments against Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud deserves condemnation, the signatories defended his freedom of expression and said that the arrest goes against the spirit of the Constitution.
Badri Seshadri was arrested by Kunnam police on July 29, over a controversial interview he gave to Aadhan Tamil YouTube on July 22. Talking about the Manipur crisis, Badri said in the interview that all the problems in Manipur started because of the Manipur High Court’s decision on Scheduled Tribe status to the Meitei community and went on to talk about CJI DY Chandrachud. He criticised the Supreme Court’s stand on the matter and asked if a gun could be placed in CJI’s hands and he would be able to ensure peace. “Badri was trying to belittle the CJI’s position, he also brought down the honour of the Supreme Court and the judicial system of the country,” the complaint lodged by Kaviyarasu, a lawyer and resident of Kunnam in Perambalur district, said.
In the letter to CM Stalin demanding his release, the signatories said, “Badri Seshadri…has been arrested on the charge of holding the Hon’ble Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India to contempt. There is no doubt that [Badri’s] outburst deserves unequivocal condemnation. However, we strongly believe that arrest is an extreme reaction to such an infringement and goes against the spirit of the constitutional assurance of freedom of expression.”
“We believe that the government of Tamil Nadu following the Dravidian model of governance, inspired by the ideals of Thanthai Periyar, Arignar Anna and Kalaignar Karunanidhi, is strongly committed to the freedom of expression. We expect the government of Tamil Nadu, which differs vastly from other state governments of the Indian Union, to be an exemplary model in this matter,” they added.
Kaviyarasu, a lawyer and resident of Kunnam in Perambalur district lodged a complaint against Badri saying that the latter was trying to belittle CJI's position and he also brought down the honour of the Supreme Court and judicial system of the country. Based on his complaint Badri was arrested and now he is in judicial custody in Trichy Central prison.