A plea from opposition leader A Vijayakant to quash a GO dated November 22 this year, which granted sanction to the Public Prosecutor in Theni to file a defamation complaint against him, was rejected by the Madras High Court on Tuesday.
A perusal of the statement in the GO and the complaint showed that there was prima facie material to proceed against Vijayakant for defamation. Whether he had uttered the words mentioned in the GO and the complaint and whether they had tarnished the image of the Chief Minister and whether there was any ill motive behind them, are to be established before the criminal court, Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar said and dismissed a petition from Vijayakant.
At a public meeting at State Bank Thidal in Theni on August 2 this year, Vijayakant made a statement against Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Contending that the statement was defamatory, the PP filed the complaint against Vijayakant for punishment under Section 500 of the IPC. Vijayakant submitted that he had criticised the government with good intention, for public good and there was no malice.
Justice Vasanthakumar said that a prima facie case was made out to sanction the prosecution and the complaint was now pending before the principal district and sessions judge in Theni. No case was made out to interfere with the GO and the complaint pending before the lower court, he added and dismissed the petition.