Political analyst and commentator Badri Seshadri was granted conditional bail on Tuesday, August 1 by the Judicial Magistrate Court in Kunnam. He was arrested on July 29 by the Perambalur police for his comments on the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud in connection with the Manipur violence. According to The Hindu, the court dismissed a petition filed by the Kunnam police seeking judicial custody of Seshadri.
The arrest came after a complaint was filed by a lawyer named Kaviyarasu against Seshadri, who was taken into custody at his residence in Chennai. He faced charges under Sections 153 (provocation of people) and 153 A (promoting enmity between groups based on religion, language, place of birth) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Following the bail, the court imposed certain conditions on Seshadri, directing him to sign at the Srirangam police station in Trichy daily at 10 am for a duration of two weeks. After his hearing, Seshadri was taken back to the Central Prison and will be released after formalities are completed.
Notably, Several writers and historians came together to appeal to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin, seeking Badri Seshadri's release. The letter, sent on Monday, July 31, bore the signatures of writers Ambai, Paul Zacharia, and Perumal Murugan, historians AR Venkatachalapathy and Stalin Rajangam, musician TM Krishna, academic Rajan Krishnan, and publisher Kannan Sundaram. While they condemned Seshadri's comments against the CJI, they emphasised the importance of freedom of expression and expressed concerns that the arrest contradicts the spirit of the Constitution.