CHENNAI: DMK president MK Stalin’s son-in-law V Sabareesan, who is the chairman of Populus Empowerment Network (PEN), has issued legal notices to TVK ministers Aadhav Arjuna and CTR Nirmalkumar over remarks they made at separate press meets on June 25. He warned that he will move court for criminal and civil defamation if the statements are not withdrawn within 15 days.
According to the two notices sent on Saturday, the two ministers had made “highly false, fabricated, malicious and defamatory” statements against Sabareesan. Also, he (Sabareesan) was targeted only because he is Stalin’s son-in-law, as per the notices.
The notice to Aadhav Arjuna alleged that the minister claimed 16 of 32 government departments had been “allotted” to Sabareesan and 16 to Udhayanidhi Stalin for “collection”, and that the corruption of all ministers was funnelled through them.
According to the notice to Nirmalkumar, the minister alleged irregularities in the power sector under the previous DMK government, claiming that despite tariff hikes, neither consumers nor the electricity utility had benefited and that an `87,000-crore loan had been raised.
The notice says he (minister) pointed to a “shadow” figure and a “son-in-law” behind the dealings, which it (notice) contends was a reference to Sabareesan.
Both notices describe the statements as “wholly baseless, untrue, unsubstantiated” and made with “a clear and deliberate intention to tarnish the image, character and reputation” of Sabareesan. They invoked criminal defamation under Section 356 (1) and (2) of the BNS, 2023, along with provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the law of civil defamation.
Sabareesan has demanded that both of them retract their statements, tender an unconditional public apology through the same television channels and social media handles, take down all related videos, and give a written undertaking not to repeat such remarks.
