Madras High Court Issues Notice To Former CM Edappadi Palanisamy On NGO's Appeal Against Interim Gag Order

A bench comprising Justice R Mahadevan and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq however refused to set aside the impugned order, stating that it would amount to allowing the appeal itself without hearing the other side.

In December last year, Justice Krishnan Ramaswamy had restrained Arappor Iyakkam from making "any derogatory statements against former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy".

The single judge had observed that the right to free speech guaranteed under the Indian Constitution does not give a right to defame others.

Palanisamy had approached the court after the NGO gave press statements about the complaint filed by it before the DVAC alleging that the former minister was involved in corrupt practices in the matter of awarding tenders in the state Highways worth 692 crores in favour of his relative and selected tenderers between 2019 and 2021. Palanisamy claimed that there is not an iota or semblance of truth in the accusations or publications made by the NGO and its intention was only to disparage the good name, fame, and reputation of the Minister.

The court noted that any baseless publication would have considerable impact throughout the career of a politician as it would prima facie tarnish his personal and professional reputation in the society.

Case Title: Arappor Iyakkam and others v. Edappadi Palanisamy

Case No: OSA 42 of 2023