Lawfare, Defamation – Journalists

In a judgment that has come as a shot in the arm for all those who support press freedom, the Madras High Court has observed that politicians cannot trample the media for no good reason by initiating criminal defamation cases against the media houses as well as journalists even for having performed their solemn duty.

Justice P.N. Prakash made the observation while quashing a defamation case filed by the State in 2012 against India Today Tamil weekly at the instance of the then Chief Minister Jayalalitha for hating carried an article insinuating that ATADMK party senior K.A. Sengottaiyan was sidelined at the instance of her confidante V.K. Sasikala. “Nobody is invited with platters for coming into public life. Therefore, after voluntarily coming into public life, one cannot be heard to feign sensitiveness and trample the press for no good reason. This constitutional court will be failing in its duty if such attempts by the mighty State are not resisted,” the judge said.

After extracting paragraphs from the article carried by the weekly, the judge said in his opinion it simply talked about Ms. Sasikala’s reinduction into the party after her ouster in 2011 and the subsequent sidelining of Mr. Sengottaiyan who was perceived to be the reason for her ouster.