CHENNAI: In the wake of news reports that the government had issued an order according to sanction to prosecute state BJP president K Annamalai for an alleged speech promoting disharmony, Raj Bhavan issued a clarification on Monday saying that it is not aware of the criminal case against Annamalai and it had not issued any sanction order.
Raj Bhavan said it was clarified after “anxious inquiries” from the public regarding the issue. The clarification came in the backdrop of some people interpreting the wordings “By order of the governor” and “the governor of Tamil Nadu hereby accords sanction” mentioned in the GO to mean that the sanction to prosecute was accorded by the governor.
Official sources said such wordings are customarily mentioned as per the Secretariat Office Manual and the Tamil Nadu Government Business Rules since the governor is the executive head of the state and they do not necessarily mean that all such orders are issued after obtaining approvals from the Raj Bhavan.
The GO, in this case, was issued by the state government based on a complaint filed by activist V Piyush before Salem collector regarding an alleged factually incorrect speech made by Annamalai in September 2023 with reference to a 1956 incident involving late leaders CN Annadurai, PT Rajan, Muthuramalinga Thevar.