SC criticises Jayalalitha’s action, sends notice to TN government

Chennai: The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, reprimanded Jayalalitha for being too sensitive for criticisms and filing defamation cases on opposition leaders. “Accept that you are a public figure and you have to face criticism,” stated the court.

The Court said that Tamil Nadu is the only state which misuses state machinery to fight defamation cases.

The state government has filed more than 200 defamation cases, including 55 cases against the media and 85 cases against DMK’s leaders, in the last five years, said the court.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalitha, had earlier in July, filed a defamation case against the online portal arguing that it had written and published articles about her without any factual accuracy. “The articles were meant to malign my image,” she had said.

The apex judiciary body, today, responded her saying that she should not misuse defamation for throttling democracy.

Supreme Court issues notice to TN government:

• Condemning Jayalalitha’s action, the SC has issued a notice to the Tamil Nadu state government for alleged misuse of the defamation law.
• The SC has also directed other states to exercise caution while filing defamation reports against individuals.
• The court, however, stated that no other strate misuses state machinery like the TN government.
• “Any criticism of public policy cannot be the ground for filing defamation suits as it disrupts the functioning of democracy,” said the apex court.

The next hearing of the case is scheduled on 22 September.