The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against V. Kanal Kannan arising from a Twitter post featuring a video of a foreign Pastor dancing with a woman. Justice R. Vijayakumar held that the material in the charge sheet did not satisfy the ingredients of Sections 295A and 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
V. Kanal Kannan, described in the order as the State President of the Art and Culture Wing of Hindu Munnani, maintained a Twitter account under the name “kannan_kanal”. On June 18, 2023, he posted a video showing a foreign Pastor dancing with a woman.
Along with the video, he wrote a caption stating that it represented the original state of foreign religious culture and called upon Hindus to think about it. The post led to a complaint by M. Austin Bennet, following which an FIR was registered and a final report was filed under Sections 295A and 505(2) IPC.
Kannan approached the High Court seeking quashing of the criminal case pending before the Judicial Magistrate II, Nagercoil.
Kannan’s senior counsel argued that the video was not a deepfake and that no obscene caption had been used with an intention to create religious enmity. It was also submitted that the post did not spread any rumour and therefore the statutory requirements of the alleged offences were not made out.
The State opposed the petition, submitting that Kannan had been continuously uploading similar videos and was allegedly creating enmity between religious groups. According to the prosecution, the video and caption were likely to create such enmity.
The Court considered the allegations and materials reflected in the charge sheet. It noted that there was no allegation that the video itself was a deepfake. The Court also observed that the caption was directed towards Hindus and was not specifically addressed to Christians.
The Court concluded:
“In such circumstances, this Court is of the considered opinion that the ingredients of the offence under Sections 295 A, 505(2) IPC are not attracted.”
Justice R. Vijayakumar held that continuing the criminal proceedings would amount to an abuse of the process of law. The High Court accordingly quashed the charge sheet in C.C. No.541 of 2024 pending before the Judicial Magistrate II, Nagercoil.
The Criminal Original Petition was allowed, and the connected miscellaneous petitions were closed.
Case Title: V. Kanal Kannan v. The State of Tamil Nadu & Anr.
Case Number: Crl.OP.(MD) No.13963 of 2025 and Crl.MP(MD) Nos.11204 & 11205 of 2025
-300x169.webp)
