CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Monday granted leave to the principal opposition party, DMK, to sue TVK leaders and ministers CTR Nirmal Kumar (law and electricity) and Aadhav Arjuna (PWD) for making defamatory statements against the Dravidian party regarding the sexual assault case against Gem Granites founder R Veeramani.
Justice K Govindarajan Thilakavadi allowed the application filed by the DMK seeking grant of leave to file the defamation suit claiming Rs 1.01 crore damages and seeking to restrain both the ministers from making such defamatory statements that the party had protected the perpetrators.
Advocate General Vijay Narayan, senior counsel Satish Parasaran and advocate G Murugendran representing the ministers and the TVK IT Wing, had objected to granting leave since prior notice mandated under section 80 of Civil Procedure Code (CPC) was not served since the defendants are holding public office and said the IT Wing is not a legal entity.
However, senior counsel J Ravindran contended the defamation suit is being filed against Nirmal Kumar and Aadhav in their individual capacity as leaders of TVK and not as persons holding public office. And so, notice under section 80 of CPC is not required to be served, he said.
The judge said, “Whether Section 80 CPC is attracted to the proposed suit, whether any exception under the provision is applicable, whether the respondents are properly described as Public Officers and the consequence, if any, of non-service of notice are matters which can be considered in the suit at the appropriate stage. As discussed above, those questions do not, on the facts pleaded, furnish a ground to reject the present application for leave at the threshold.”