CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has stayed all further proceedings of the Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women and the police against former AIADMK minister and MP CV Shanmugam in connection with complaints of alleged defamatory comments against women made at a party meeting.
Justice AD Jagadish Chandira granted the temporary relief after hearing the petitions filed by Shanmugam seeking a stay on the proceedings.
Alleging that the complainants — G Pramila and A Radhika — had acted on the instructions of the ruling party with the sole object of tarnishing the name of Shanmugam, his counsel M Mohamed Riyas submitted that the commission sent him summons dated October 24 directing him to appear on October 28 and the summons was not accompanied with copies of the complaint nor the evidence filed with it. The summons was vague and arbitrary in nature, he said.
Alleging that the commission’s recommendations to the DGP to register a case against Shanmugam solely based on the allegations made by the complainants, the counsel said the proceedings were orchestrated by the ruling to suppress the voice of the opposition ahead of elections.