In 2018, Canada-based Tamil student Lois Sofia yelled an anti-BJP slogan on a flight with Tamilisai Soundararajan present and was arrested for it.
Published Aug 16, 2023 | 10:05 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 16, 2023 | 10:05 PM
Allowing the petition filed by Sofia, Justice P Dhanabal observed that shouting a slogan is a trivial issue and will not constitute an offence. (Creative Commons)
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has quashed an FIR lodged against a Canada-based Tamil student, Lois Sofia, who was arrested for raising slogans against the BJP government in 2018, on board a flight in the presence of then-Tamil Nadu BJP president and current Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Tamilisai Soundararajan.
Allowing the petition filed by Sofia, Justice P Dhanabal observed that shouting a slogan is a trivial issue and will not constitute an offence
Speaking to South First, Sofia’s Advocate D Geetha said, “Both sections filed against Sofia are non-cognisable offences. So under Section 155 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrCP), police cannot investigate a non-cognisable offence without a direction from the magistrate and no such magistrate order was obtained by the police to investigate the case. We submitted that FIR and the charge sheet are illegal and it was allowed by the judge.”
Further, the counsel argued that the Madras City Police Act is not applicable to Thoothukudi and it is not extended to the jurisdiction of the Madras City Police.
Meanwhile, in August 2022, BJP President Annamalai filed an intervention petition in the case.
Subject to the arguments to be heard, the judge allowed Annamalai to present his case. However, the petitioners objected to his intervention as he is a third party to proceedings and has nothing to do with the case.
Sofia, a postgraduate student at the University of Montreal in Canada and a writer, had previously covered the Sterlite police firing issue and the protests against the Chennai-Salem eight-lane highway project extensively.
On 3 September, 2018, she tweeted that she wondered if she would be “kicked off the flight” if she shouts “Modi-BJP-RSS fascist government, down, down” when she saw Tamilisai on board her flight.
She then raised the slogan on the flight at the Thoothukudi airport.
During the incident, Sofia’s father and surgeon, AA Samy, and his wife were accompanying their daughter from Chennai to Thoothukudi on the flight.
At the airport lounge, Tamilisai confronted her and BJP supporters, who were present at the airport, also threatened her and insisted that she apologise to Tamilisai. Sofia and her parents were also prevented from leaving the airport.
I said the four words #பாசிச_பாஜக_ஆட்சி_ஒழிக once in Dr. Tamilisai Soundarajan's hearing. Her subsequent actions—goading party men, misrepresenting what happened, using state machinery to intimidate and legally harass me are now a matter of public record #FascistBJPDownDown pic.twitter.com/n2xsicBtV3
— Sofia | சோபியா (@Red_Pastures) August 16, 2023
Following this, Tamilisai lodged a complaint and, based on it, Sofia was arrested at the airport by the Pudukottai Police and was sent to judicial custody for 15 days. A case under Sections 290 (creating public nuisance) and 505 (1)(b) (for causing fear to the public on the flight and at the airport) of the Indian Penal Code, and under Section 75 of the Madras City Police Act, had been filed against her.
Later, Sofia’s father Samy approached the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) and Sofia was awarded ₹2 lakh compensation as her fundamental rights had been violated by the police action.
Meanwhile, Sofia filed a petition in the Madras High Court Bench in Madurai, praying to quash the FIR filed against her.
Following the judgement on Wednesday, 16 August, Sofia — taking to social media — stated that the judgement by the Madras High Court quashing the FIR and charge sheet against her marks the end of a nearly five-year legal battle.
“I said four words once in Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan’s hearing. Her subsequent actions — goading party men, misrepresenting what happened, and using state machinery to intimidate and legally harass me, are now a matter of public record. This was a tough battle to fight,” Sofia said in her statement.
Madras high court has quashed the FIR and charge sheet filed against me in 2018 at the behest of BJP's then TN state president Dr. Tamilisai Soundarajan. Please read my public statement. வாழ்த்துக்களுக்கும் ஆதரவுக்கும் மிக்க நன்றி! #FascistBJPDownDown #பாசிச_பாஜக_ஆட்சி_ஒழிக pic.twitter.com/9hhhGr3zhE
— Sofia | சோபியா (@Red_Pastures) August 16, 2023
She further said, “In the immediate aftermath, my sole desire was for my four words to resonate without distraction. I am indebted to everyone who filled that silence, repeated my words, and spoke up for my rights, including the then-Leader of the Opposition, the honourable Chief Minister Mr Stalin.
“I have been fortunate to mostly escape political persecution and if not for the swift and overwhelming support from the public, journalists, politicians, and others in public life, the actions of Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan (former TN-BJP state president) and the police against me would have gone unnoticed.”
