Suspended DMK cadre sued for derogatory remarks against Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi

The complaint was registered on behalf of the Governor.

Earlier, S Prasanna Ramasamy, Deputy Secretary to the Governor, sought action against the now-suspended DMK functionary in a communication to the Greater Chennai City Police Commissioner Shankar Jiwal.

Also read: Governor RN Ravi ends ‘Tamizhagam’ controversy

The Deputy Secretary said that a video clip of the DMK cadre went viral on social media and it was derogatory in nature, intimidating the Governor.

The commissioner forwarded the video clip and the communication from Governor’s office to the Additional Chief Secretary of the Home Department for appropriate action.

Thereafter the Home Department passed a GO and accorded sanction to Devarajan to file a defamation suit against the suspended DMK cadre on behalf of the government.

In the defamation suit, Devarajan said that the speech of Shivaji was per se defamatory, was circulated on various social media platforms with the intention to harm the reputation of Governor RN Ravi, and was not in good faith.

Hence, he prayed, the court should take cognizance of the complaint, proceed against the accused Shivaji, and punish him for offences under Sections 499 and 500 of the IPC.

Sivaji Krishnamurthy in a public meeting conducted by the DMK made derogatory remarks against the Governor for skipping portions of the government-approved speech in the Assembly earlier this month.

The DMK high command on 14 January suspended him from its primary membership for “violating party discipline and bringing disrepute” to it.