Vilathikulam MLA Markandayan moves Madras High Court seeking to set aside judicial remand order

Vilathikulam DMK MLA G.V. Markandayan speaking to the media at Thoothukudi Government Medical College Hospital where he was brought for medical examination following his arrest on July 20, 2026 | Photo Credit: N. Rajesh The Madras High Court (July 23, 2026) agreed to take up for urgent hearing on Thursday (July 23, 2026) a petition filed by Vilathikulam DMK MLA G.V. Markandayan, who had been arrested for having reportedly stated that his party legislators would “break the bones” of Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay in the Legislative Assembly.Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan granted a lunch motion, following an oral mention made by the counsel for the arrested MLA for early hearing of his plea to quash a remand order passed by a judicial magistrate in Thoothukudi on July 20, 2026, and consequently release the legislator on bail.In his petition, the MLA had contended that the remand order was liable to be set aside as it had been passed without taking into consideration whether the arrest was necessary in the present case without resorting to other measures such as summoning him for inquiry by issuing a notice under Section 41A of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).The petitioner claimed that the Thoothukudi District Crime Branch (DCB) police had failed to submit before the magistrate the reasons for having arrived at the conclusion that the arrest of the MLA was absolutely necessary, even though the provisions under which he had been booked would lead to a maximum punishment of only seven years of imprisonment.‘Against Supreme Court principles’The arrested MLA also argued that his judicial remand was against the principles laid down by the Supreme Court in Arnesh Kumar versus State of Bihar (2014) and Satendra Kumar Antil versus Central Bureau of Investigation (2022), in which it had been held that notices of inquiry must be issued to the suspects in criminal cases involving a maximum punishment of up to seven years of imprisonment.It was also brought to the notice of the court that the DCB had registered the First Information Report (FIR) against the MLA on the basis of a complaint lodged by an individual named S. Balasubramanian on July 19, 2026. The complainant was aggrieved over a public speech delivered by the MLA during a meeting organised by the DMK near the Kovilpatti Krishnan temple on July 18, 2026.The complainant had accused the MLA of having threatened that his party legislators would “break the bones of the Chief Minister inside the Legislative Assembly.” Hence, the FIR was registered under Sections 351(3) (criminal intimidation), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and 353(2) (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).The MLA was arrested and remanded in judicial custody on July 20, 2026. The Magistrate had ordered his remand till August 3, 2026, after taking into consideration the gravity of the public speech delivered by him and also the law laid down by the Supreme Court in Arnesh Kumar’s case. Published - July 23, 2026 01:07 pm IST