'Sanatan Dharma' remark: SC to hear Udhayanidhi Stalin plea in 2026

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said it would hear in 2026 the plea of Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin for clubbing all FIRs and complaints over his contentious "eradicate Sanatan Dharma" remarks in 2023 and transfer to one place.

Stalin's plea came up for hearing before a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the petitioner, pointed out several FIRs and complaints were filed against Stalin.

"This court has done two things in the past in several cases," Rohatgi said.

Justice Nath then said, "This court has done many things in the past. It does not mean that we should also do the same thing."

When Rohatgi urged the matter to be posted for 2026, the bench allowed it.

On March 6, the top court ordered no fresh FIR to be registered against Stalin without its nod over his contentious "eradicate Sanatan Dharma" remarks.

Observing several complaints couldn't be filed on a single issue, the apex court had also extended an interim order on his exemption from personal appearance in courts hearing the existing FIRs.

The top court was hearing Stalin's plea for clubbing the FIRs and transferring the complaints to one place for future proceedings.

"We also deem it appropriate to direct that no further cases will be registered and proceeded without the permission of this court," the court then said.

Stalin's counsel informed the bench about FIRs being registered in Patna, Jammu, Bengaluru aside from Maharashtra, seeking the cases to be transferred to a place where the alleged incident took place -- Tamil Nadu.

He referred to the apex court's decisions in the case of TV anchor Arnab Goswami, Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair and politician Nupur Sharma and said cases arising out of one incident couldn't be allowed to continue in different places.

Speaking at a conference in September 2023, Stalin reportedly said Sanatan Dharma was against social justice and equality and should be "eradicated" and compared it to coronavirus, malaria and dengue, asking it to be "destroyed".