CHENNAI: A day after May 17 Movement founder
Thirumurugan Gandhi
was picked up from Bengaluru Airport on arrival from a foreign visit, in connection with a pending
sedition case
against him, a
Chennai court
unleashed a barrage of questions at Chennai police.
Chiding police for not allowing Gandhi even to freshen up, the 11th Metropolitan magistrate, Prakash, wondered how police would justify sedition charge against Gandhi.
He raised five queries and asked police to file a written reply to them. Till then Gandhi would not be remanded in judicial custody.
The complaint against Gandhi was that he had incited hatred among people and pitted them against police and the government.
The complaint, lodged by Haja Amir Hussain of the AIADMK's information technology wing, said Gandhi's speech on police firing at anti-Sterlite protesters (delivered at a United Nations forum) had been uploaded on Facebook.
Referring to the complaint, the court sought to know as to what proof did the police have to conclude that the Facebook post was that of Thirumurugan Gandhi.
Also, magistrate Prakash sought to know the details of riots and public unrest triggered by Thirumurugan Gandhi's alleged Facebook post since June 28 when it was uploaded first.
Also, the magistrate pointed out that since the speech was delivered in a UN forum, in which India too had a representative, it could have been rebutted there itself.
The magistrate then deferred decision on remanding Thirumurugan Gandhi in judicial custody, pending police response to these queries.
Gandhi was picked up at Bengaluru Airport, brought to Chennai by road and taken to the magistrate's residence at Saidapet early in the morning for being remanded in judicial custody.
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