The Madras High Court on Monday (September 1) quashed the jail sentence awarded to senior BJP leader H Raja in two cases tried by the special court for MPs and MLAs in Chennai.
The cases stemmed from a 2018 social media post in which Raja allegedly said that an EVR statue would be broken like a Lenin statue. Following the post, complaints were filed against him at Erode Town and Karungalpalayam police stations.
In a separate complaint, former minister Selvaraj alleged that Raja posted defamatory remarks against DMK MP Kanimozhi on X. Both matters were heard by the special court in Chennai.
In 2024, the special court convicted Raja and sentenced him to six months in prison along with a fine of Rs 5,000. Raja challenged the verdict before the High Court.
After hearing arguments from all sides, the High Court held that Raja’s statements did not amount to disrupting public peace and that there was insufficient evidence, and accordingly set aside the conviction and sentence.
