Madras High Court quashes case over tweet showing foreign pastor dancing with lady

“As far as the caption is concerned, the petitioner has stated that the said video depicts the original state of foreign culture and therefore, Hindus should think it over. The alleged caption is not meant for the Christians. It is addressed to the Hindus,” the August 24 order read. 

Posted video on Twitter

The man allegedly had a Twitter account where he posted a video showing a foreign Pastor dancing with a woman on June 18, 2023, at around 5 pm, along with a caption stating that it depicted the original state of foreign religious culture and calling upon all Hindus to think over it. 

Finding the caption offensive, the complainant, who belongs to the Christian community, lodged a complaint with the police.

Justice R Vijayakumar pointed out that the alleged caption of the said video is not meant for the Christians but is addressed to the Hindus.

Arguments

Representing the man, senior advocate Karthikeyan argued that the alleged video was not a deepfake and that his client had uploaded the original video without using any obscene caption. He added that the complainant was a highly sensitive person and that the issue could not be viewed solely from his perspective.

On the contrary, Government Advocate V Shathurthi Raja submitted that the man had been continuously uploading such videos and argued that the video of a pastor dancing abroad with a woman, along with the caption posted, was likely to create enmity between different religious groups.

The court also noted that the complainant did not appear either in person or through counsel and decided the case on the merits based on the submissions of the petitioner’s counsel and the Government Advocate.