DMK Rajya Sabha MP R.S. Bharathi was on May 23 arrested by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Greater Chennai Police on charges of making derogatory remarks against judges belonging to the Scheduled Castes.
He got interim bail from Egmore Metropolitan Magistrate Court.
In an indoor meeting in February, he had alluded that Dalit judges owed their positions to the DMK’s social uplift policy. A video clip of his remarks was shared widely on social media, leading to a police complaint.
Mr. Bharathi was arrested from his house in Alandur early on May 23 and produced before the Egmore Metropolitan Magistrate. The case was initially registered by the Teynampet police but later transferred to the CCB.
DMK cadre protesting outside the city Police Commissioner’s office, Vepery, against the arrested of DMK MP R.S. Bharati on May 23, 2020.
The Teynampet police registered an FIR against him on March 12, under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act based on a complaint from Kalyanasundaram, president, Adi Tamizhar Makkal Katchi, for having delivered a speech at an event organised by Kalaignar Reading Circle on February 15.
The DMK MP had earlier argued in the Madras High Court that the leaked remarks could not be read in isolation without listening to his entire speech.
He had also moved the Madras High Court, seeking a direction to the Principal Sessions Court here to consider his bail application on the same day when he chooses to surrender. The case was adjourned to May 27.
