Lawfare, Contempt of Court – Others

The Madras High Court on Wednesday closed the suo motu contempt of court proceedings initiated against Keezhaikattru Publishers after Greater Chennai City Police reported that no book titled ‘Thirupparankundram Issue: Is G.R. Swaminathan a judge or a RSS Rowdy?’ was published and sold at the Chennai Book Fair 2026 organised by Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI).

First Division Bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G. Arul Murugan also closed a writ petition which sought a direction to the police to seize all those books. The petitioner P. Naveenprasad of Vellore had relied upon a flyer circulated widely on the social media claiming the book would be available for sale at stall numbers 172 and 173 of the Chennai Book Fair 2026.

Passing interim orders in the case on January 7, 2026, the Chief Justice’s Bench had observed: “On the face of it, the proposed release of the book as titled and shown in the petition is highly derogatory and abusive and crosses all limits and needs to be dealt with stern hands by the court.” The Bench directed the police to ensure that no such book, tending to scandalise the judge, was published and sold.