CHENNAI: Denying the allegations made by PWD Minister Aadhav Arjuna in his defamation suit, former chief minister MK Stalin lashed out at him for approaching the court with unclean hands by suppressing the facts on the criminal cases faced by him and his family members. Stalin also accused Arjuna of being a person using intemperate and abusive language, adding he cannot be legally responsible or liable for any individual acts.
The DMK president – in a counter-affidavit to the defamation suit against him for the social media posts of DMK’s IT wing linking the TVK minister with John Britto in connection with smuggling of contraband – said the minister’s claim of purported steadfast advocacy against drug abuse and his campaigns for drug-free society are ‘self-serving’ and ‘self-lauding’.
Further, Stalin alleged the minister has “conspicuously omitted” a material and vital fact that his own family members, including his wife and in-laws, stand accused of/are under investigation in cases registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
“And hence he has come before the court with unclean hands and is not entitled to any relief sought for,” Stalin said, noting that even the minister is facing prosecution by the CBI in connection with the Karur stampede case.
Citing the affidavits filed by Aadhav Arjuna and his mother-in-law MLA Leema Rose, along with the nomination papers disclosing the criminal cases pending against them, Stalin said, therefore, the minister’s claim that linking him to an accused person, John Britto, has ruined his reputation is bizarre.
Stating that he did not instruct the IT wing to publish any post linking Aadhav Arjuna or his family to John Britto or to any drug trafficking case, Stalin said the attempt to “fasten vicarious responsibility” upon him is baseless, false and denied in toto.
“The mere fact that I am the president of DMK does not render me liable for every post published through the social media accounts of the various wings/functionaries of the party,” he said, adding he cannot be legally responsible for any individual acts.
The fact remains that Aadhav Arjuna has not denied in his plaint or affidavit that he has a relative by name John Britto and this person is facing a criminal case and is being prosecuted by the ED, he noted.
Stalin also stated Arjuna has been using intemperate and abusive language against him and his family members during the April polls and after he became a minister and so his claim to be a person of repute is proved false by his own conduct and public speech.
