New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday slammed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for foisting criminal defamation complaints against her political opponents to stifle fair criticism of her government.
A Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Rohinton Nariman, hearing petitions filed by DMDK leader Vijayakanth and his wife Premalatha challenging the defamation complaints, told senior counsel Rakesh Diwedi, appearing for Ms Jayalalithaa “you are using state machinery to file defamation cases against political opponents. If at all you are aggrieved you fight on a personal level.”
G.S. Mani, counsel for Vijayakanth told the Bench that defamation cases are being filed against political opponents even for fair criticism.
The Bench issued fresh notice to Ms Jayalalithaa seeking her response returnable on September 21. Justice Misra observed, “There has to be a healthy democracy. Here it is a case of state public prosecutor filing cases. State is controlling the prosecution.You have a right to be criticised. ”
