CHENNAI: The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam party’s General Secretary for Election Campaign Movement, Aadhav Arjuna, has approached the Madras High Court seeking to quash an FIR filed against him for allegedly inciting violence.
It may be noted that the FIR was filed against Arjuna on September 30, 2025, for alleged offences under Sections 192 [wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot] , 196(1)(b) [promoting enmity between different groups], 197(1)(d) ]imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integrity], 353(1)(b), and 353 (2) [statements conducing to public mischief] of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita BNS 2023. The FIR was regsitered against Arjuna for a post made by him in which he had stated that a revolution similar to that initiated by the Gen Z in Nepal and Srilanka would occur in the State, against the authorities.
In his plea, Arjuna stated that the post could not be said to be provocative or inciting rebellion against the sovereignty and integrity of India or endangering the security of the state or as inciting breach of public order. he submitted that the post was in response to the police violence meted out to the cadres of the TVK party following the Karur Stampede.
Arjuna stated that the social media comments of a political person, calling for regime change, should not be seen in isolation and must be understood in the context of the upcoming assembly elections in 2026. He added that he had made references to the riots in Nepal and Sri Lanka, only to show that the political leaders were appointees of the public and must be accountable and answerable to the public. He thus stated that the post was a strong expression of anger to the brutal police violence meted out to the party cadres, and the intent was to peacefully express dissent through casting a vote in the upcoming election.
The petitioner said he had posted the tweet at 11:28 pm on September 29, 2025 and then edited it within a few minutes i to remove references to Nepal and Sri Lanka. Finally, the entire tweet was deleted at 12:02 am on September 30, 2025. Thus, the tweet was available on the X platform only for a very brief period in the late hours of the night and was never intended to incite violence, he contended.
It has also been stated that mere criticism of the police brutality in the country or the State does not constitute any offence under the BNS and such criticism is protected under the freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
