The Madras High Court has recently invalidated a First Information Report (FIR) that was filed by the Tamil Nadu Police against Badri Seshadri, a publisher and political commentator. This FIR was related to purportedly inflammatory remarks he made about the Chief Justice of India during a YouTube interview.

On September 19, Justice N Anand Venkatesh issued a ruling in which he nullified the FIR that had been lodged against Seshadri in July of the current year. The FIR had been filed in connection with an interview during which Seshadri discussed the ongoing ethnic strife in Manipur and the judiciary's role in it.

Justice Venkatesh emphasized that Seshadri's remarks regarding the judiciary and the Chief Justice of India should not be misconstrued when evaluating them. He went on to state that the judiciary possesses substantial resilience and can withstand criticism as long as it does not directly impede its operational integrity.

Additionally, the Court acknowledged and accepted an affidavit that Seshadri had submitted in which he expressed regret and offered an apology for his previous comments.

The court order stated, “In the considered view of this Court, the judiciary has very broad shoulders to take any criticism unless the criticism results indirectly interfering with the administration of justice. The petitioner might have gone overboard while making certain comments about the Hon'ble Chief Justice of India. However, the comments made by the petitioner must be looked at, from the context in which such comments were made. According to the petitioner, the judiciary must not poke its nose on the functions that are exclusively within the domain of the executive. While expressing this view, the petitioner used certain expressions which were seemingly a verbal attack made on the Hon'ble Chief Justice of India. In the light of the affidavit filed by the petitioner, expressing regret for the statement made by him, this Court is of the considered view that the curtains must be drawn. No useful purpose will be served in continuing with the investigation in this case.”

The Court issued a caution to Seshadri, advising him to exercise greater discretion when expressing his views on a public platform. Furthermore, it urged him to refrain from engaging in similar instances in the future.

Seshadri was taken into custody on July 29 following his remarks in the YouTube interview. In the interview, he suggested that, given the Supreme Court's statement about intervening if the Central government failed to restore peace in Manipur, one could hypothetically attempt to resolve the situation by metaphorically "giving a gun" to the Chief Justice of India.

Seshadri was released on bail by a local court on August 1.