CHENNAI: A division bench of the Madras High Court comprising justices SM Subramaniam and C Saravanan on Monday temporarily stayed the order of a single judge directing Ananda Vikatan, a Tamil magazine, to pay Rs 25 lakh as damages to DMK MP TR Baalu for publishing a defamatory article on the Sethusamudram project in 2012, without any substantial proof.
The interim relief was granted on an appeal filed by the magazine editor, publisher and printer who challenged the single judge’s order.
The bench ordered notice to the respondents, seeking them to file their reply by two weeks and adjourned the hearing. The single judge, in his order, had stated that it was proved that the news items that appeared in ‘Junior Vikatan’ are malicious and defamatory, thereby lowering the character and reputation of the plaintiff.
Holding that the plaintiff is entitled for damages, the judge, while partly decreeing the suit, had ordered payment of Rs 25 lakh damages within a month.