Seeman withdraws plea to quash charge sheet filed in 2010 inflammatory speech case

Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) chief coordinator S. Seeman. File
| Photo Credit: S. Siva Saravanan

Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) chief coordinator S. Seeman on Thursday (November 28, 2024) withdrew a petition in the Madras High Court in 2021 challenging a charge sheet filed against him by the Greater Chennai City Police for reportedly speaking in favour of the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and issuing threats targeting Sinhalese students in Tamil Nadu in 2010.

Appearing before a Division Bench of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and M. Jothiraman, the petitioner’s counsel S. Shankar said, his client does not want to pursue the petition for quashing the charge sheet since the trial had already begun before the VII Metropolitan Magistrate at George Town, and as many as 13 witnesses had been examined so far before the trial court.

After recording his submissions, the judges permitted the petitioner to withdraw his plea. The issue relates to a demonstration organised by the NTK at Narayanappan Street, within the North Beach police station limits, on July 10, 2010. According to the then Sub-Inspector Selvarani, the permission for the demonstration was granted for condemning the attacks on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy.

However, the participants had worn T-shirts and shirts with portraits of LTTE leader V. Prabakaran and raised slogans against the Indian Army and the Centre by accusing it of acting in support of the Sri Lankan government. Though the demonstration was permitted only between 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., Mr. Seeman began speaking only at 2:15 p.m. and concluded his speech at 3:15 p.m., the Sub-Inspector complained.

She also said that he had instigated the audience by levelling false accusations against the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), sent to Sri Lanka, of having raped and murdered Sri Lankan Tamil women. The Sub-Inspector further accused Mr. Seeman of having issued a warning that not a single Sinhalese student in Tamil Nadu would return home alive if the Sri Lankan Navy continued to attack Indian fishermen.