Shivani Gadhavi –
Published On: December 10, 2021 at 19:00 IST
The Madras High Court recently ruled out that the ‘Tamil Thai Vazhthu’ is only a prayer and not the national anthem. It stated in the Order that it is not necessary for everyone to pay respect to the prayer by standing up and singing it while it is being played.
The Madras High Court Bench of Justice G.R. Swaminathan made the Judgment and Quashed the First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Remeswaram Police in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu, against the functionaries of “Nam Tamilar Katchi (NTK)” in the year of 2018.
The case pertains to a petition filed by Kan Ilango challenging the FIR filed by the Pontiff of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, who was invited by the then Governor of Tamil Nadu to the release of a Tamil-Sanskrit dictionary on January 24th, 2018. During the event when the invocation of ‘Tamil Thai Vazhthu’ began, the Pontiff remained seated, this triggered the NKT members.
The functionaries later on entered the Kanchi Mutt in Remeswaram and condemned the act of the Pontiff and criminally intimidated the manager of the Kanchi Mutt who filed an FIR against the NKT functionaries, which is quashed by the Madras High Court in this instance.
Regarding the petition, the Madras High Court stated that there is no Statutory provision which makes it compulsory for everyone to stand up and sing the ‘Tamil Thai Vazhthu’ whenever it is sung at a public gathering.
Justice Swaminathan observed that in the current case the Pontiff was in a meditative state, which was his way of expressing and paying respect to the Tamil Mother. The Judge dismissed the case pending in the Remeswaram Police Station.