CHENNAI: Describing as “highly derogatory” and “abusive”, the Madras High Court on Wednesday ordered the Tamil Nadu Police to take appropriate action to prevent a publisher from releasing and circulating a ‘scandalous’ book on Justice G R Swaminathan, a sitting judge of the court, at the Chennai Book Fair.
The first division bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan passed the orders while hearing a petition filed by P Naveenprasad, of Anaikattu in Vellore district, seeking action against the publishers and to stop them from going ahead with the release of the book at the Chennai Book Fair on January 8.
“On the face of it, the proposed release of the book as titled and shown in the petition, is highly derogatory and abusive and crosses all limits and needs to be dealt with stern hands by the court,” the bench said.
It ordered the DGP, Commissioner of Greater Chennai Police and the Inspector of Saidapet police station “to take immediate and effective action to ensure that no such book having such pictorial representation, statements, caricature or contents tending to scandalise the court/judge are allowed to be published and circulated”.
The order said, “Appropriate action shall be taken by the police authorities including to ensure that such scandalised publications do not take place, which may include seizure of pictorial representation and the contents of the nature as stated above, through any means including electronic media.”
Based on the material found in the petition, the bench initiated suo motu contempt of court proceedings against the publisher – Keezhaikaatru Padhippagam – and ordered notice to it returnable by three weeks.
The court also sought a compliance report from the state authorities on the issue and posted the matter to January 28, for further hearing.
It termed the matter of releasing the book with a specific name of a sitting judge of the court in the title in extremely derogatory language as of “serious concern”.
B Jagannath, the counsel for the petitioner, submitted that a copy of the title page of the book is being circulated in the media, including social media, and it amounts to scandalising the sitting judge.
The bench said the title page shows the pictorial representation, caricature, and the expressions/words used are not only “highly derogatory” but “virtually abusive” and the pictorial representation directly points out the face and name of the sitting judge.
The court recorded the submission of Additional Solicitor General A R L Sundaresan and Additional Government Pleader E Vijay Anand that it is apparently derogatory, abusive and highly contemptuous as it tends to scandalise the court and erode the public confidence in the system.