Speaker Appavu moves Madras High Court to quash a criminal defamation case

AIADMK spokesperson had filed the case against him before a special court for legislators in Chennai

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Speaker M. Appavu has approached the Madras High Court to quash a criminal defamation case filed against him by AIADMK legal wing joint secretary and the party spokesperson R.M. Babu Murugavel on the basis of a speech delivered by him at a private book release event held in Chennai on November 21, 2023.

The plea to quash the defamation case, pending before a special court for legislators in Chennai, has been listed for hearing before Justice G. Jayachandran on Thursday. In his private complaint before the special court, Mr. Murugavel had accused the Speaker of having defamed the AIADMK by making certain unsubstantiated claims during the course of his speech.

The complainant said the Speaker had claimed that around 40 AIADMK Members of the Legislative Assembly were ready to join the DMK after Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016 and that a prominent AIADMK leader had contacted him to facilitate the shifting of loyalties. However, the then DMK president and incumbent Chief Minister M.K. Stalin refused to come to power without obtaining people’s mandate.

Contending that the Speaker had narrated a “fictitious” incident to the audience of the book release function with the sole intent of defaming the AIADMK, the complainant had insisted on punishing him for criminal defamation under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code.

Published - October 16, 2024 08:52 pm IST