A legal case was registered late Monday in opposition to Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, former Tamil Nadu BJP president Ok Annamalai, and key organisers of the Lord Murugan Devotees Convention held in Madurai on June 22.
The case, filed on the E3 Annanagar Police Station, cites violations of the Madras Excessive Court docket’s restrictions on political and spiritual rhetoric throughout the high-profile non secular occasion.
In accordance with the Madurai police, the criticism was filed by S Vanjinathan, an advocate and coordinator of the Madurai Folks’s Federation for Communal Concord. He alleged that the speeches and resolutions offered on the occasion incited communal hostility and violated circumstances laid down by the Madras Excessive Court docket, which had permitted the occasion with strict limits on spiritual and political messaging.
The case — Crime No 497/2025 — was registered below sections 196(1)(a), 299, 302, and 353(1)(b)(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The named accused embody Kadeshwara Subramaniam, president of the Hindu Munnani, S Muthukumar, its state secretary, Pawan Kalyan, Annamalai, and unidentified organising members of the RSS, BJP, Hindu Munnani, and allied Sangh Parivar teams.
Police sources mentioned the content material of speeches and digital communications throughout the occasion included language that “promoted enmity between teams primarily based on faith, race, and area” and “outraged the spiritual emotions” of different communities. The FIR additionally alleges that public remarks and actions on the venue had been “supposed to impress disharmony below the guise of non secular meeting.”
Held amid a lot fanfare on a stage flanked by replicas of the six sacred abodes (Arupadai Veedu) of Lord Murugan, the occasion had seen a large turnout, with Hindu Munnani claiming over one lakh devotees in attendance. Although the Madras Excessive Court docket had explicitly barred political content material on the convention, a number of audio system, together with Pawan Kalyan, made political remarks wrapped in a non secular narrative.
Wearing a inexperienced veshti historically worn by Murugan devotees, Pawan Kalyan took direct purpose at what he termed “pretend secularists” and atheists. “Secularism has develop into a defend for some to denigrate Hindu gods,” he mentioned. “I respect Christianity and Islam, however don’t disrespect Hindu Dharma.”
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He referred to as Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar an “incarnation of Lord Murugan” and criticised political leaders for questioning why a Murugan convention was held in Tamil Nadu.
The convention additionally handed six resolutions, together with one urging Hindus to vote en bloc within the upcoming Meeting elections, and one other demanding the DMK authorities cease “treating temples as income sources.”
Former BJP state chief Annamalai, additionally named within the FIR, declared that the convention’s success confirmed that “individuals have chosen ‘Swami’ over ‘Nidhi’ — a veiled jab at political rivals.
Though the BJP’s ally, AIADMK, formally remained silent on the occasion, 4 of its senior leaders, together with R B Udhayakumar and Sellur Ok Raju, attended the convention.