Madras High Court Quashes FIR Against Journalist Abhijit Majumder After He Redacts Derogatory Remarks On Periyar

Justice Anand Venkatesh noted that the journalist had redacted the controversial remarks made against Periyar and had republished the new article. The court noted that the de facto complainant had also accepted Majumder's undertaking and no useful purpose would be served by keeping the matter pending.

In his opinion piece, Majumder had called Periyar “an intellectual thug who did not just marry his own adopted daughter 40 years younger, but reportedly incited local goons to sexually harass his wife to stop her from visiting a temple.”

In January this year, the court had taken a strong view against such remarks and remarked that there was no decency in expressing news and opinions. Calling such comments unfair, the court added that Periyar had a stature in the society and such comments, when published could lead to violence.

The court had also remarked that though a person had the right to express his opinions and could have different ideologies, one could not make personal allegations. The court noted that nowadays, everyone is involved in personal vandalising and there is verbal violence all around.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 71

Case Title: Abhijit Majumder v Inspector of Police and Another

Case No: Crl OP 24668 of 2023