The Supreme Court on Monday told DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin that having voluntarily made the statement to “eradicate Sanatan Dharma”, he cannot claim to be in the same position as media and news channels while seeking clubbing of multiple FIRs registered against him over his remark.

A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta told Stalin , “You have made the statements voluntarily. And the cases you cited – those were news media people who were working as per diktats of their bosses to get TRPs. You cannot compare yourself to the media.”

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The observation from the bench came as Stalin, seeking the clubbing of the multiple FIRs registered against him across the country, relied on the top court judgments in the matters relating to media persons in support of his plea.

Appearing for Stalin, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi highlighted the case of BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, against whom multiple FIRs were lodged in different States and later transferred to one State.

“Nupur Sharma is pure politician,” Singhvi told the bench.

Questioning Stalin as to why he has approached the Supreme court under Article 32 of the constitution for the protection of his fundamental rights and not instead invoking Section 406 (power of Supreme Court to transfer cases and appeals) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Permitting Stalin to amend his petition for invoking Section 406 CrPC for seeking the clubbing of the FIRs, the bench posted the matter in the week commencing from May 6.

In the earlier hearing of the matter on March 4, the top court had questioned Stalin over his remarks calling for the eradication of ‘Sanatana Dharma’ and had told him that he is “not a layman but a minister” and should know the consequences of his remarks.

“You abuse your rights under freedom of speech and expression and right to freedom of religion and then come to the Supreme Court for protection under Article 32? Don’t you know the consequences of what you said?”, the bench had told Stalin.

DMK leader Stalin had made remarks comparing ‘Sanatana Dharma’ to diseases like ‘malaria’ and ‘dengue’ while advocating for its elimination on grounds that it was rooted in the caste system and historical discrimination.

His remarks triggered a massive political controversy across the country. It led to several criminal complaints being filed against him.

Stalin has approached the top court seeking clubbing of multiple FIRs registered against him in several states over his remarks.

The Tamil Nadu minister has sought relief from the top court to club all the FIRs, saying FIRs are registered in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, and Jammu and Kashmir and Maharashtra.