States » SouthPosted at: Oct 6 2026 6:04PM


TN Ministers Aadhav Arjuna, Nirmal Kumar, files appeal against HC order allowing DMK to file defamation suit against them

Chennai, Oct 6 (UNI) A day after the Madras High Court allowed the main opposition DMK to initiate a Rs 1.01 crore defamatory suit against them for making remarks linking the party to the granite-baron R.Veeramani POCSO cases, Tamil Nadu Ministers Aadhav Arjuna and CTR.Nirmal Kumar on Tuesday filed an appeal before a Bench seeking to cancel the Single Judge order.
Challenging the Single Judge order issued while allowing a petition filed by DMK General Secretary and former Minister Duraimurugan, the two ministers filed an appeal before a Division Bench comprising Justices N. Sathish Kumar and G.K. Muthukumar seeking to cancel the defamatory suit order as mandtatory notice was not issued to them under Sec 80 of CrPC before filing the peition against them.
When their counsels sought an urgent hearing of the appeal, the Bench directed the Registry to list the plea for hearing on October 13.
On Monday, Ms.Justice K.Govindarajan Thilakavadi allowed the DMK's plea seeking the court's leave to sue the two Ministers and the ruling TVK IT wing, overruling the defendants' objections regarding the maintainability of the case.
In the plea, the DMK accused the TVK ministers and their IT wing of orchestrating a false, defamatory campaign on social media. The TVK leaders alleged that the DMK government shielded the granite baron and had attempted to cover up the case.
Advocate General Vijay Narayan, appearing for the Ministers, argued that a prior notice should have been issued before initiating proceedings against them. Since no such notice had been served, the petition was not maintainable, while Senior counsel J.Ravindran, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that Nirmal Kumar and Aadhav Arjuna had been impleaded in the case in their individual capacities and not in their capacity as Ministers.
The petition also sought a direction to file the suit against X Corp, Meta Platforms, and YouTube, since a plea had been made to take down the false and defamatory posts, but those multinational corporations were located outside the jurisdiction of the High Court, along with the two Ministers and the TVK IT Wing.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the judge permitted the DMK to initiate defamation proceedings against the two Ministers and the TVK IT Wing.
During the earlier hearing, the Judge orally directed both the Ministers and the DMK not to politicise the issue as it could dilute the investigation and may pave the way for the accused to escape from the clutches of law. “It is about the lives of minor girl children. The issue is very sensitive and all of us have a social responsibility,” the judge remarked.
In its plea, the DMK said the First Information Report (FIR) in the case was promptly registered during its rule on October 7, 2025, immediately a day after a child rights activist had handed over a video clipping of the alleged sexual assault of a minor girl child, to the police. Thereafter, the investigation proceeded in accordance with the law on the basis of the available evidence.
Duraimurugan also made it clear that the then ruling DMK had not interfered with the investigation in any manner whatsoever, and that the party had no connection or connivance either with the named accused or anyone else connected with the alleged offence.
However, the two TVK Ministers had been consistently levelling baseless charges against the DMK during their media interactions, it said.
The DMK alleged that the Ministers were making such false statements to gain mileage during the Madurantakam and Dharapuram byelections. It said that the TVK’s IT wing too was involved in the publication, reposting, and circulation of the defamatory statements and materials through its social media handles. Such statements had reached a large number of people and caused injury to the reputation, goodwill, and public standing of the DMK, it said and sought leave to file a defamatory suit against the two Ministers, which was allowed by the Court today.
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Tags: #TN Ministers Aadhav Arjuna# Nirmal Kumar# files appeal against HC order allowing DMK to file defamation suit against them
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