Madras High Court sets aside conviction, imprisonment imposed on BJP leader H. Raja in two criminal cases

BJP leader H. Raja. File | Photo Credit: Ashok R. The MadrasHigh Court on Tuesday (September 1, 2026) allowed a couple of criminal appeals filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader H. Raja and set aside his conviction as well as six months of simple imprisonment imposed on him by a trial court in 2024 in two criminal cases.Also read | BJP leader H. Raja sentenced to six-month imprisonment for derogatory social media postsJustice V. Lakshminarayanan concurred with the arguments of senior counsel N. Ananthapadmanabhan, representing the appellant, that the conviction and sentences imposed by a special court for MP/MLA cases in Chennai on December 2, 2024, could not be sustained.The first case against Mr. Raja was related to a tweet reportedly posted on his X handle on April 18, 2018, containing offensive remarks with a veiled reference to former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and his daughter Kanimozhi, who was then a Rajya Sabha member and now a Lok Sabha member representing the Thoothukudi constituency.The Erode Town Police had registered the case under Sections 153 (provoking people with intent to cause riot), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 509 (intending to insult modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code.After conducting a full-fledged trial by examining all witnesses, including the complainant P. Selvaraj, a former DMK Minister, the sessions judge found Mr. Raja guilty of all three charges but ordered that the sentences shall run concurrently.“The remarks made by the accused are highly provocative in nature and it is needless to state that such irresponsible comments would invite trouble and provoke violence and thereby cause disturbance to the public peace and tranquility,” the trial court had said.It had also observed: “Such type of venomous message cannot be accepted in the society governed by the rule of law. No rational human being would accept that the message is the reaction of a prudent man.”Periyar statue caseThe second case for which the BJP leader had been convicted and sentenced to six more months of imprisonment was in connection with a March 6, 2018, tweet in support of the demolition of rationalist leader Thanthai Periyar’s statue.Though multiple FIRs had been booked in connection with the tweet, the special court had clubbed them and conducted a combined trial before finding the convict guilty under Sections 153 and 504 of IPC and sentencing him to six months of imprisonment.“Thanthai Periyar is a well known social reformer and had done a lot for the society and common people. His ideology and preaching had created social awareness in all walks of the society. He has several followers,” the trial court had written.It had also said: “Any comment, intending to degrade Thanthai Periyar cannot be tolerated by the people of Tamil Nadu or at least by his followers and political parties... Definitely, this type of message will provoke the followers of the ideologist.” Published - September 01, 2026 12:18 pm IST