CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Tuesday refused to quash the defamation case filed by Murasoli Trust against BJP leader and Union Minister of State L Murugan over his remarks made on the land under the possession of the trust in Chennai.
Dismissing a petition filed by Murugan seeking quashing of the case, pending before an additional special court for MP/MLAs cases, Justice N Anand Venkatesh directed the additional special court ‘to dispose of the case within a period of three months’.
The judge told the minister to raise all the grounds before the trial court and they will be considered on their own merits and in accordance with the law. Murugan, while heading the state unit of BJP, made the remarks against the trust’s land at a press conference in 2020 warranting the defamation suit.
Preceding that in his capacity as vice-chairperson of the National Commission for SC/STs, he had taken cognizance of a petition submitted by a Chennai resident alleging that the land was Panchami land, and the trust had encroached upon it and sent notice to the trust.
The judge observed that upon going through the complaint of defamation and the materials placed, the court is prima facie convinced that the offence of defamation has been satisfied by the complaint. He also noted the submissions made by Murugan’s counsel are matters to be decided during trial since they involve an appreciation of facts.
Governor sitting on files to release 49 prisoners, state government tells Court
Chennai: The state government on Tuesday told the Madras High Court that Governor RN Ravi has been sitting on the files recommending the release of 49 good-conduct prisoners on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Arignar Anna (CN Annadurai), the founder of DMK. State Public Prosecutor Hasan Mohammed Jinnah made the submission before a division bench of Justices M Sundar and R Sakthivel when a petition seeking orders for early release of good-conduct prisoners came up for hearing. “The files for early release of 49 good-conduct prisoners, as per the recommendations of the chief minister, were sent to the governor for approval. The files have not yet been cleared,” he told the bench. The public prosecutor also submitted a copy of a communication made by the home secretary to the governor in this regard. The bench posted the matter to September 29 for further hearing, after saying it could be taken up after seeing the version of the governor.