A criminal defamation was filed against Rediff.com India Limited on 15 July for carrying a news story about the health condition of J Jayalalithaa, Chief Minister, Tamil Nadu.
Who filed the petition?
ML Jegan, City Public Prosecutor has filed a criminal defamation case in Principal Session Court against R Ramasubramaniam, Reporter, Ajit Balakrishnan, CEO and Chairman. Nikhil Kashman, Editor-in-chief and Abishek Mande, Senior Associate Editor.
Previous defamation cases filed by the Jayalalithaa government:
- A defamation suit was filed against BJP leader Dr Subramanian Swamy after he had alleged that the boats apprehended by Sri Lankan navy belonged to Jayalalithaa's close aide Sasikala.
- Defamation suit was filed against DMK chief M Karunanidhi, his son MK Stalin, besides publishers and two editors of English dailies in connection with an article in which Jayalalithaa had been criticised for staying in Kodanad state.
Jayalalithaa had earlier sued Cyrus Broacha, famous TV anchor and comedian for mimicking her on a TV show.
In 2003, a criminal defamation was filed against leading English daily The Hindu for publishing an article related to Jayalalithaa, it was alleged that the article was published to harm the her reputation.
In 2012, a defamation case was filed against Junior Vikatan, a Tamil newspaper for carrying a news story stating that a yagnam was to be performed in the Poes Garden residence of Chief Minister which was defamatory.
Defamation case was filed against Vijaykanth, actor turned politician for his alleged defamatory remarks against Jayalalithaa in an interview to a regional television channel criticising spending of public money on advertisements.
Tamil newspaper Dinamalar was served with a defamation suit after it had published an article on state government orders for relaxing construction norms.
The Times of India, Chennai edition faced a defamation case after it had published an article on increasing number of accidents in Tamil Nadu and had titled 'Tamil Nadu gives its drivers a licence to kill'.
Tamil magazine Nakkeeran and The Hindu faced a defamation case as they had published an article in which Jayalalithaa was termed as a 'beef-eater'.
During her 2002-2006 tenure, a total number of 120 criminal defamation cases were filed against various media organisations.
Between 2006 and 2011, 40 defamation cases were filed against media houses.