R. Mahadevan, J.

1. The Writ Petition in W.P No.17615/2013 has been filed to quash the impugned notification No.146 dated 30.05.2013 published by the first respondent in Tamil Nadu Government Gazette Extraordinary, whereby the book “Meendezhum Pandiyar Varalaru” (“TAMIL) written by the petitioner, has been forfeited by invoking the powers under Section 95 Cr.P.C on the ground that the contents therein are abusive and in the nature of promoting enmity between different castes.

2. The Writ Petition in W.P.No.31237/2016 has been filed to quash the impugned notification No.182 dated 19.08.2015 published by the respondent Government in Tamil Nadu Government Gazette Extraordinary, whereby the book “Venthar Kulathin Iruppidam Ethu?” (“TAMIL”) written by the petitioner, which is a continuation of the earlier book, the subject matter of W.P.No.17615/2013, was ordered to be forfeited by invoking the powers under Section 95 Cr.P.C.

3. Since the petitioner has authored both the books, both the writ petitions were clubbed and heard together, by consent of both the parties.

4. The brief facts of the cases, are as follows:

The petitioner, claiming to be hailing from Mallar Community, has penned both the books. The first book “Meendezhum Pandiyar Varalaru” was penned by him, claiming that Mallars also known as 'pallars' are the descendants of the ancient Pandya kings and that, they are wrongly arrayed as “Dalits”, though history would reveal that they belonged to the agricultural and ruling class, superior to other communities classified under the Schedule. Pitching for reclassification, the petitioner has in the process of tracing the identity of mallars with Pandyas, based on quotes in various books, also penned the fall of Pandya dynasty and the rise and domination of other communities in the societies.

5. The petitioner has also claimed that Kuravar, Idayar, Pallar, Fishermen, Maraver are the basic and original communities in Tamil Nadu and others now claiming to be the natives of this State, are aliens. When a permission was sought for release of the book, which is the subject matter of WP.No.17615 of 2013, the first respondent issued the impugned notification No.146 dated 30.05.2013 forfeiting the same, under Section 95 Cr.P.C on the ground that the contents are abusive and demeaning to other communities and therefore, would create a law and order problem. Aggrieved over the same, the petitioner has filed W.P.No 17615 of 2013 pitching for his fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression under Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution of India.

6. During the pendency of the first writ petition, another book, titled as “Venther Kulathin Iruppidam Ethu?” penned by the petitioner in continuation with his earlier book and in the same lines tracing the identity of “Venthers” with mallars, was forfeited by the Government vide the impugned notification No.182 dated 19.08.2015 for similar reasons. Challenging the same and claiming that his work is purely sociological and determined to remove the stigma on the caste by declassifying the pallar community from being categorised as ‘Adi-dravidars’ and 'Dalits', the petitioner has filed W.P.No.31237 of 2016 alleging that the impugned notifications are in violation of Articles 14, 19(1)(a) and 21 of the Constitution of India.

7. The State, on the other hand, in the counter affidavit, has justified the forfeiture of both the books. The Government order itself contains the extracts which strikingly are provocative and entice violence disrupting the public harmony and peace in the state with various castes and sub-castes.

8. Mr.V.Lakshmi Narayanan, learned counsel appearing for Mr.P.Vijendiran, learned counsel on record for the petitioner, taking us through the law on the subject by the Hon'ble Supreme Court and this Court as well as other High Courts in the following decisions reported in (i) (Harnam Das v. State of Uttar Pradesh),

(ii) (1976) 4 SCC 213 (State of Uttar Pradesh v. Lalai Singh Yadav),

(