Last Updated:January 21, 2026, 10:00 IST The court expressed concern that legal action was initiated against those reacting to the speech, while no case had been registered against the person who made the remarks. Madras HC called Udhayanidhi’s remark on Sanatan Dharma ‘hate speech’ | File Image The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday quashed a criminal case filed against BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya for his social media post criticising Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s remarks on Sanatan Dharma, while sharply observing that the minister’s speech itself amounted to hate speech. Allowing Malviya’s petition, Justice S Srimathy held that his post, in which he described Udhayanidhi’s 2023 remarks as a call for genocide, did not constitute an offence and was a response to what the court described as an inflammatory speech targeting Hindus who follow Sanatan Dharma. “The minister’s remarks amount to hate speech,” the judge said, adding that Malviya, as a follower of Sanatan Dharma, could be considered a victim of such speech and had merely defended …